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!U aN 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



h 



HEAVEN 



AND ITS WOITDERS, 



THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, 



AND HELL: 



FROM THINGS HEARD AND SEEN 



Tranilaied from the Latin of 

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, 

It 

Sertami of tJie Lord Jesus Christ, 



ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT LONDON IN LATIN, MDCCLVIII. 



TEAN8LATED BY THE 

REV SAMUEL NOBLE, OF LONDON. 




NEW YORK: 
AIV[ER!CAN SWEDENBORG FRINTtNG AND PUBLISHINQ SOCIETY 

1872. 






\^ 



^y' 



Published by The American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing 
Society, organized Jo? the piorpose of titirtotyping, Printing, and 
Publishing Uniform Editions of the Theological Writings of Emanuel 
SwEDENBOEG, aiui incorporated in the State of New York, a. d. 1850. 



ADYEKTISEMElsTT. 

The following ti-anslation is a copy of the one recently published 
in London, from the pen of the Rev. Samuel !N"oble, entitled 
" Heaven and its "Wonders, the World of Spirits (or the interme- 
diate region, which is the first receptacle of man after death), 
and Hell ; described by one who had heard and seen what he 
relates. From the Latin of Emanuel Swedenborg, servant of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Ti'anslated by the Kev. Samuel Noble. 
Second edition, carefully revised, with a new preface by the 
Translator, including explanatory notes and observations. To- 
gether with the original English preface by the Rev. Thomas 
Hartley, A.M. London, James S. Hodson, 22 Poi-tugal Street, 
Lincohi's Inn, 1851." 

Most of the notes are retained ; and Hartley's preface (pub- 
lished by private subscription) is bound in some of the copies ; 
but the excellent critical preface by the Rev. Mr. ]N"oble is omit- 
ted, not being appropriate to this edition. 

New Yokk, November^ 1861. " 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, by the Rev. T. Hartley ,i. to xxxvi. 

INTRODUCTION' 2 

OF HEAVEN. 

That the Lord is the God of Heaven 6 

That the Divine Sphere of the Lord constitutes Heaven 6 

That the Divine Sphere of the Lord in heaven is love to him and charity to- 
wards the neighbor 8 

That Heaven is divided into two kingdoms 12 

That there are three Heavens 15 

That the Heavens consist of innumerable societies 20 

That every society is a heaven on a smaller scale, and every angel is a heaven 

in miniature 24 

That the whole Heaven, viewed collectively, is in form as one man 28 

That every society in the Heavens is in form as one man 31 

That hence every Angel is in a perfect Human Forjn 33 

That it is by derivation from the Lord's Divine Humanity, that Heaven, both 

in the whole and in its parts, is in form as a Man 36 

That there is a correspondence between all things belonging to Heaven, and 

all things belonging to man 41 

That there is a correspondence between Heaven and all things belonging to 

the earth 48 

Of the Sun in heaven 65 

Of Light and Heat in heaven 60 

Of the four quarters in heaven 69 

Of the changes of state experienced by the angels in heaven 74 

Of time in heaven 78 

Of representatives and appearances in heaven 81 

Of the clothes in which the angels are dressed 84 

Of the habitations and mansions of the angels 86 

Of space in heaven ,. 90 

Of the form of heaven, according to which the consociations and Communica- 
tions of the inhabitants are arranged 93 

Of governments in heaven , 99 

Of Divine worship in heaven , 103 

Of the power of the angels of heaven 106 

Of the speech of the angels 109 

Of the speech of the angels with men 114 

Of writings in heaven 121 

Of the wisdom of the angels in heaven 124 

Of the state of innocence of the angels in heaven 133 

Of the state of peace in heaven w. 138 

Of the conjunction of heaven with the himian race 143 

Of the conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word 149 

That all the inhabitants of heaven and of hell are derived from the human race 156 
Of the state, in heaven, of the Gentiles, or natives of countries not within the 

limits of the Church 161 

Of infants or little children in heaven 168 

Of the wise and the simple in heaven 176 

Of the rich and the poor in heaven 187 

Of marriages in heaven 194 

Of the occupations of the angels in heaven 206 

Of heavenly joy and happiness 210 

Of the immensity of heaven 222 

vii 



CONTENTS. 



OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND OF THE STATE OF MAN 

AFTER DEATH. 

PAOB 

What the World of Spirits is 228 

That, as to his interiors, every man is a Spirit 233 

Of man's resuscitation from the dead, and entrance into eternal life 237 

That man, after death, is in perfect human form 242 

That man, after death, is possessed of every sense, and of all the memory, 
thought, and affection, that he had in the world ; and that he leaves nothing 

behind him but his terrestrial body 248 

That man, after death, is, in quality, such as liis life had been in the world. ... 258 
That the delights of the life of every one are turned, after death, into corre- 
spondent ones .' 2*70 

Of the first state of man after death 2l6 

Of the second state of man after death 280 

Of the third state of man after death : which is the state of instruction pro- 
vided for those who go to Heaven...., 289 

That no one attains Heaven by an act of immediate mercy 295 

That it is not so difficult to live the life which leads to Heaven, as is com- 
monly supposed 300 

OF HELL. 

That the Lord governs the Hells 309 

That no one is cast into Hell by the Lord ; but that the spirit does it himself 312 
That all the inhabitants of the Hells are immersed in evils, and in falsities 

thence proceeding, originating in self-love and the love of the world 316 

What is meant by the fire of hell, and what by the gnashing of teeth 326 

Of the profound wickedness, and direful arts, of infernal spirits 383 

Of the appearance, situation, and plurality of the hells 337 

Of the equilibrium between heaven and hell 342 

That man is in the enjoyment of freedom, through the equilibrium that is main- 
tained between Heaven and Hell 847 

viii 



PREFACE 

BY 

The Rev. THOMAS HARTLEY, A.M., 

Late Sector of Winwick, in NbrthamptoruTm'e, 



Besides the more general provisions made by the Father of hghts for 
the instruction of His church and people in divine things, under the pub- 
lic dispensations of the law and the gospel, He has also been graciously 
pleased at sundry times and in divers manners, as occasions and the needs 
of the church might require it, to make extraordinary discoveries and 
revelations to particular persons, either for more private or public use, to 
answer various ends of His wisdom and goodness : and, indeed, were it 
true that all things proceeded according to one invariable rule of govern- 
ment in His administrations, in grace, in providence, and also in the 
natural world, without His interposing any particular acts of His divine 
authority and power, God's government of the world would be less at- 
tended to and believed in. His cognizance of human affairs be questioned 
by many, and such a settled sameness in the course of things be con- 
strued into a blind fatality. Nor is it easily to be conceived by us, how 
one unchangeable mode of proceedings could be adapted to the present 
condition of mankind, as free agents, under their continual fluctuations 
and deviations from the rule of obedience, their backslidings, rebellions, 
and apostacy ; and accordingly we read how the Lord varied His par- 
ticular dealings with the Israelites, according to their states and circum- 
stances respectively, for direction, for warning, for correction, (fee, by 
visions, by voices, by signs and wonders, and by the mission of angels, 
to reclaim and convert them ! and this is so far from arguing any varia- 
bleness in God, that it evidences His unchangeableness in mercy and 
goodness, by accommodating His dealings and dispensations to the needs 
and requirements of His poor frail creatures : agreeably to that declara- 
tion, " I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not 
consumed."* 

How thins^s went with the Antediluvians in reg^ard to divine mani- 
festations, the sacred records give us but little intelligence ; but thus 
much we may collect from them, that in the line of Seth, as contra- 
distinguished from that of Cain, there was a church of devout worship- 
pers then on earth, in which Enoch was highly favored of God, and a 
man of renown, whose prophetic writings continued in the church down 
to the times of the apostles, as appears from the Epistle of Jude.f In 

* Ma!, iii. 6. 

T Mr. Hartley here speaks according to the ideas commonly entertained from tli« 
literal sense of the Word; but according to Emanuel Swedenborg, by Enoch is not to 
be understood any individual so named, but a branch or society of the most ancient 
ehurch, by whom the knowledges wlich were seen perceptively by the most aucieut 



11 PEEFACE 

this line of Seth (from what is mentioned of Enoch and Noahj we may 
conclude, that the church of God, before the general apostacy brought 
on the flood, was instructed and conducted by particular revelation from 
heaven ; and that an intercourse between angels and the holy men of 
those early days (called the sons of God), was no unfrequent thing. 

On the call of Abraham, heaven was again opened to man in the 
way of divine communications externally, and he was taught of God 
the things that be of God, by the ministry of angels ; so that what wd 
now call extraordinary dispensations, were then the ordinary way of 
conveying divine knowledge :* and from these more immediate dis- 
coveries of Himself to the patriarchs, we apprehend it was, that God 
styled Himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 
Jacob. 

Nor was the delivery of the law, as a stated directory to the Israelites 
for duty and worship, intended to supersede particular revelations from 
heaven, or communications with angels ; nay, the promise of an angel to 
" go before them in the way," was immediately annexed to it :f and the 
prophetic dispensation under the law, appears as a supplement of su- 
perior excellency to the law itself, by expounding and illustrating the 
typical parts of it in reference to that ministration of righteousness by 
Jesus Christ, which should far exceed it in glory. Thus the law and the 
prophets made together, as it were, but one dispensation, and all serious 
Jews looked upon divine manifestations, by prophecy and vision, as such 
standing tokens of God's favor towards them, that any occasional cessa- 
tion of them was considered as a mark of the divine displeasure. Thus 
the Psalmist: ** We see not our tokens, there is not one prophet more, "J 
and hence it was that the Seers, or true Visionaries, were held in such 
honor by the godly of that church. Thus, " T]ie word of the Lord was 
precious in those days ; there was no open vision. "§ "Her prophets 
find no vision from the Lord."|| And it is observable, that from the time 
of Malachi to a little before the advent of Christ, during which period 
prophecy and vision ceased in the Jewish church (at least in persons of 
a public character), was the most horrid degeneracy of that people 
from all things sacred and moral ; intestine divisions, bribery, and liber- 
tinism, diffused their poison through church and state ; the very temple 
was often polluted with the blood of hostile factions : and the high 
priesthood was bought and sold, nay, the nomination to it submitted to 
heathen princes, who conferred the same on the highest bidder : thus 
fulfiUing the truth of Solomon's words,®[[ " Where there is no vision the 
people perish ;" meaning thereby, that where there is a cessation of all 

people, were reduced into a doctrinal form : and by its being said that " he was not 
for God took him," is signified that the doctrinals thus arranged, not being agreeable 
to the genius of the most ancient church, the members of which, teing able to see 
divine tilings by intuitive perception, had no need of being instructed by the posterior 
way of loctrine, were withdrawn for the present, and reserved by Divine Providence 
for the use of posterity (See Arc. Cod. n. 521). The book ascribed to Enoch, and con- 
taining the passage quoted from it by Jude, has, since the above Preface was written, 
been brought to light, and an English translation of it, by Abp,_ Lawrence, has been 
prhited. It is a supposititious production, of an age fixr posterior the age of those 
called Enoch. — N. 

* See Bromley on Extraordinary Dispensations., at the end of his Way to fhe Sabbaik 
x}f Rest. A booK which I much recommend to the reader, —ff. 

+ Exod. iii. 20. % Psalm Ixxiv. 10. § 1 Sam. iii. 4. 

\ Isaiah iii. 1. ^ Prov. xxix. 18. 



1 



BY THE EEV. T. HAETLET. Ul 

divine communications, the sense of religion decays, and all things tend 
to ruin. 

When the time was fully come, as foretold by the prophets, for the 
Sun of Rio-hteousness to arise with healins^ in His wino-s : for God to 
manifest Himself in the flesh to destroy the works of the devil, and to 
supply what was lacking in all preceding dispensations : then the 
heavens were again opened, and celestial communications renewed with 
men ; an angel foretold the birth of Him who should be the harbmger 
to this Prince of Peace : the same heavenly messenger was sent to 
the highly favored virgin, with a salutation, on her miraculous concep- 
tion of Him ; and a host of angels proclaimed the joyful news of His 
gracious advent; angels ministered unto Him during His abode on 
earth, and announced His resurrection from the dead. But when all 
was finished relating to our adorable Redeemer's ministry, sufferings, 
and life in the flesh, and the dispensation of the Holy Ghost took place 
according to His promise, were all extraordinary dispensations tlien to 
cease ? By no means ; for this very pubhc solemnity on the day of 
Pentecost, was attended with a gracious promise of their continuance 
in the church to future generations ; as declared to all present by Peter, 
who, on quoting the prophecy of Joel,* concerning the same vouch- 
safements, applies them to the times of the gospel dispensations : " For 
the promise is to you and to your children, and to them that are afar 
off."f And they certainly continued with the apostles, as more par- 
ticularly appears from the visions of angels to Peter, Paul, Philip, and 
John the dinne ; plainly evincing, that they were not superseded by the 
giving of the Holy Ghost. 

Such as are no friends to the belief of extraordinary gifts and com- 
munications, have labored all they could to confine them to the times 
of the apostles ; but in so contradicting the current testimony of the 
church -history, they show much prejudice and little modesty. The 
apostolical fathers, Barnabas, Clement, and Hermas (whose writings 
were reverenced as of canonical authority for four hundred years, and 
were read, together with the canonical Scriptures, in many of the 
churches), confirm the truth of prophecy, divine visions, and miracu- 
lous gifts, continuing in the church after the apostolical age, both 
by their testimony and experience : and to pass over many other vener- 
able names (among whom Tertullian and Origen are witnesses to the 
same truth afterwards), Eusebius, Cyprian, and Lactantius, still lower 
down, declare that extraordinary divine manifestations were not uncom- 
mon in their days. Cyprian is very express on this subject, praising 
God on that behalf, with respect to himself, to divers of the clergy, 
and many of the people, using these words : " The discipline of God 
over us never ceases by night and by day to correct and reprove ; for 
not only by visions of the night, but also by day, even the innocent age 
of children among us is filled with the Holy Spirit, and they see, and 
hear, and speak in ecstasy, such things as the Lord vouchsafes to admon- 
ish and instruct us by :"J; and it was the settled belief of the early 
fathers of the church, that these divine communications, for direction, 
edification, and comfort, would never wholly cease therein. 

That extraordinary gifts became more rare in the church about the 

* Joel iii. 28, 29. t Acts ii. 8a J Epiet. 16, 



IV PREFACE. 

middle of the third century, is allowed by Cyprian himself, and such 
other writers, both contemporary and subsequent, as at the same time 
testified to the reality of them ; and they account for it from the en- 
couragement given to the pernicious doctrines of Epicurus, and other 
materialists, at that time, which disposed many to turn every thing 
supernatural and spiritual into mockery and contempt. In the next 
century, when the profession of Christianity became established by 
Constantine as the religion of the empire, and millions adopted it from 
its being the religion of the court, the fashion of the times, or the roao. 
to temporal emoluments, then Christianity appeared indeed more gor- 
geous in her apparel, but became less glorious within ; was more 
splendid in form, but less vigorous in power ; and so what the church 
gained in surface she lost in depth. She suffered her faith to be cor- 
rupted by the impure mixtures of the heathenish philosophy ; whilst 
the honors, riches, and pleasures of the world, insinuated themselves 
into her affections, stole away her graces, and so robbed her of her best 
treasure ; insomuch, that many have made it a doubt whether, in the 
times here spoken of. Paganism was more christianized, or Christianity 
more paganized. 

This beino; the condition of thino-s, it is no wonder that we hear so 
little of divine visions and extraordinary spiritual gifts in those days : 
for however external men are apt to glory in the pompous appearance 
of a visible church, yet the true spiritual church may be considered at 
that time, and indeed ever since, as in her wilderness state, withdrawn 
from the multitude to keep herself unspotted from the world, and to 
preserve a holy intercourse with her beloved, in a life and conversation 
becoming the gospel of Christ : nor were her heavenly vouchsafements 
less than before, but only less proper to be divulged, as less likely to 
be received, or to be received only with derision, as were the dreams 
of Joseph by his brethren. We always mean to except, under this 
distinction, many excellent persons, mixed with carnal professors in 
common life, yet walking in all good conscience, fearing God, and 
working righteousness. Nor is any thing here said with a design to 
suggest, as though the establishment of Christianity in the Roman 
empire were without its great beneficial effects; for it was a means 
appointed by Providence for spreading the knowledge of the truth 
over a great part of the known world, whereby great numbers, under 
very defective and corrupt administrations of it, were converted from 
the error of their ways, and, by passing through the outward forms and 
ordinances to the inward power, became burning and shining lights in 
the church. Besides, divine truth is of a diffusive nature, like the 
precious ointment upon the head of Aaron, that fell down to the skirts 
of his garments. Thus the Christian religion, in the weakest administra- 
tions of it, was not without good influence on the nations that received 
it, by civilizing their manners, improving their systems of morality, 
repressing their enormous vices, and regulating their polity by more 
wholesome laws and institutes. 

To trace the Christian religion in the various revolutions of its prog- 
ress, from its first civil establishment down to the present times, would be 
the province of the historian ; we shall therefore pass over all the inter- 
vening periods of it, to consider the subject before us, in the way both of 



4 



HT THE REV. T. HAETLEY. V 

sci-iptural and rational inquiries in relation to ourselves. And here it 
must be owned, that the behef of all extraordinary or supernatural dis- 
p'^'nsations, is at a very low ebb with us, and that from several assignable 
causes, two or three of which shall here be noticed. 

And first, from an undue exaltation of man's natural rational faculties 
and powers, as the sufficient test of revealed truths ; and this gross 
error has prevailed more among men of human learning for this century 
past, than perhaps ever before ; to which it is owing, that almost 
every thing in religion has been run into question and controversy, 
and that a general 'disbelief of all things supernatural has, in a great 
measure, banished faith, and introduced Sadducism amongst us, to the 
denying of all spiritual visions and apparitions of angels as things in- 
credible. 

Secondly, This doubting and unbelief in things of a spiritual nature, 
has spread to a greater extent among all classes, from an excessive at- 
tachment to worldly interest, and the love of money in the trading nations 
of Christendom, through the vast increase of commerce and navigation 
in the two last centuries ; whereby the affections and pursuits of such 
great numbers have been so engaged on the side of filthy lucre, as to 
turn an employment, in itself innocent and useful, into the occasion of 
sin. Hence a sordid avarice, and making haste to he rich, by frauds, ex- 
tortion, and injustice, which lay an invincible obstacle in the way of faith ; 
since we are told, that every one that would name the name of Christ, as 
his Saviour, must first depart from iniquity. 

Another great hindrance to the belief of all communications with the 
world of spirits, is, a life of pleasure, which the apostle calls a state of 
death,* as it chains down the mind to the objects of the senses, and 
things of outward observation, and totally indisposes it for the considera- 
tion of things inward and spiritual : and this is not only the case of the 
voluptuous and libertine part of mankind, but of those also, who, from 
an indulged levity and dissipation of mind, abandon theTiiselves to vain 
pastimes and amusements, are carried away with every wind of fashion 
and folly, or, like the Athenians, spend their time in nothing else, but 
either to tell or to hear some new thing. Should an apostle i-eveal any 
thing concerning heaven or hell to persons thus indisposed to receive his 
report, is it not to be expected that they would reply in derision, like the 
philosophers or Athenians before mentioned, at the preaching of Paul, 
**What will this babbler say?" Nor can it be expected that the con- 
tents of the following volume should meet with a more favorable recep- 
tion from such. All things relating to the other world, and the condition 
of departed souls, are of a most interesting nature, and call for great 
seriousness and awful attention ; and they that bring not with them 
minds so prepared for the consideration of these subjects, however they 
may boast of their reason, are not as yet qualified for judges in these 
matters. And this leads to an observation or two on the subject of 
reason. 

There is nothing more talked of and pretended to, than reason, and 
yet nothing which people of every rank and age are less agreed in ; that 
which generally passes for reason, being of a vague, uncertain nature, 
varying according to the tempers, inchnations, and circumstances of men. 

* 1 Tim. V. 6. 



VI PEEFACE 

Thus it happens, that the reason of one at thirty years of age is seldom 
the reason of the same person at fifty ; the reason of the majority is not 
the reason of the minority ; nay, in every profession, art, and science, 
men reason differently, and often oppositely, except where reason has 
least place, as in mathematics, geometry, and arithmetic. And yet there 
is a right reason in all things, where men are qualified to find it out ; but 
these are few, and we see by far the greater part perpetually wrangling, 
disputing, and contradicting one another in relation to right and wrong 
in most things ; and the main cause of it is the want of simplicity, and a 
right disposition of the will and affections, which are absolutely neces- 
sary, in order to a right judgment: but whilst men dignify their pas- 
sions, humors, and false interests, with the venerable name of reason, it 
remains in them no other than the operation of their present state of mind 
on the errors, prejudices, and wrong principles they have before imbibed, 
and which they are resolved to maintain with the most words, and such 
arguments as they are masters of ; and hence it is that we have so many 
critics, politicians, and divines, who are utter strangers to the truth of 
the matters they take in hand. 

But reason has also its specific differences and measures, according to 
the nature of the subject to be investigated : thus ethics, physics, and 
metaphysics, have each their respective principles, and consequently a 
distinct kind of reason ; and he that is a good proficient in the knowledge 
of one, may be very deficient in another. Thus every part of knowledge 
has its standard, adequate and proper to itself: so natural things are 
known by natural reason, and spiritual things are discerned by a spiritual 
light : and this distinction is founded on the authority of Scripture, in 
which we are told, that '* the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God, for they are foohshness unto him ; neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned ;"* that is, the animal or 
sensual man, with all his natural faculties and endowments, cannot of 
himself attain to the knowledge of spiritual things, they being too far 
above his reach ; and therefore it must be given him from above, or he 
cannot have it : nay, so contrary are they to the propensities and appre- 
hensions of his sensual fallen nature, that whilst he presumes on a fancied 
sufficiency in himself to comprehend these things, the deeper he plunges 
himself into the darkness of human ignorance concerning them, and the 
more accounts them foolishness : and thus God is said to make foolish 
the wisdom of this world, by leaving such to their wilful blindness, wlio 
choose darkness rather than light. 

Nothing is here said to depreciate external rational knowledge, even in its 
lowest sphere, when joined with the fear of God in men of humble minds : 
for this also is the gift of God, and is not only helpful to us in all the 
purposes of this life, but, in due place and subordination, subservient to 
the divine life : it is the abuse of this knowledge only that falls under our 
3>ensure ; as when natural knowledge and human learning are employed 
to unsettle men's minds with respect to the things of the other world, 
and to rob them of the precious hopes of a glorious immortality through 
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. All such kind of sophistry, mis- 
taken for reason, is no better than vain deceit, and science falsely so 
called; and all that exercise themselves therein are. disturbers of tha 

♦ 1 Cor. ii. 14. 



BY THE KEY. T. HAETLET. VU 

peace of mankind, as well as enemies to the church of God. Nor can 
we here forbear to pass a reproof on all those, who, whilst they profess a 
reverence for the Gospel revelation, patronize, at the same time, the in- 
fidehtv of the Sadducees, as touching angels and spirits, and all extraor- 
dinary dispensations : for to deny all commmiications with the spiritual 
world, whether by visions, or any other means, naturally leads to Athe- 
ism ; and their pernicious reasonings in this way have had dreadful ef- 
fects upon the present times, by weakening the sense of religion and con- 
science in the lower classes of the people. The belief of an intercourse 
w^ith the other world, according to the truth of it, keeps alive and cher- 
ishes faith in the immortality of the soul, in all ranks of people, and famil- 
iarizes the mind to its existence separate from the body : and it is not to 
be doubted, that such gracious vouchsafements were granted to the Jews 
under the law, and have been continued since to the church under the 
Gospel, in aid and assistance to men's faith in the written traditions of 
both dispensations ; such being the goodness of the Lord in compassion 
to the weakness of our nature, and the dulne'ss of our minds, which stand, 
so much in need of fresh awakenino- incitements to call off our attention 
from earthly to heavenly things. And therefore we cannot but lament, 
tliat any men of name in the church (though little deserving of it on this 
account), have gone so far beyond this line, as to assert, that all extraor- 
dinary gifts and supernatural dispensations have totally ceased since the 
third century : but we have no authority for this but their own, and 
therefore do upon much better grounds assert, that extraordinary gifts 
and vouchsafements never did nor will cease in the church, till that wliich 
is perfect shall come ; that is, till such extraordinary become ordinary 
dispensations, and. angels shall converse with men as familiarly as they 
did with Adam before the fall ; and, in the mean time, we confidently 
rely upon the divine promise, that the same Lord, who " gave some apos- 
tles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and 
teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
the edifying of the body of Christ," will fulfil the same promif;e, *' till we 
all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ."* 

But it may be said here, that seers of visions are not mentioned along 
with prophets, &c., in the foregoing quotation from the apostle : and 
therefore as the first are principally referred to in this preface, it will be 
here apposite to observe, that the name of prophet in Scripture, is not 
confined to the gift of prediction or foretelling things to come, but signi- 
fies one to whom any divine manifestation was made for the use of others ; 
and as this was generally by vision, so we read that prophets in ancient 
times were usually called seers, that is, see-ers of visions. Thus, in 1 
Sam. ix. 9, " Before time in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, 
thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer ; for he that is now called 
a prophet was before time called a seer ;" and afterwards, in the same 
chapter, Samuel calls himself a seer: and in 2 Sam. xxiv. 11, we read, 
" that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer ;" 
of such honorable repute was the name of seer in those times. When 
therefore the apostle gives it in charge to the church, not to despise 

* Eph. iv. 11. 



Vlll PREFACE 

prophesyings, we have no warrant to exclude visions from the general 
chaiige, especially as we are well informed from ecclesiastical history, 
that the custom of communicating to the church the visions of holy per- 
sons, particularly such as were of authority in the ministry, continued 
down at least to the days of Cyprian, the good bishop of Carthage, who 
speaks of manifestations by visions throughout his epistles, and also of 
his own ; for he had many visions, and, among others, one concerning 
his own martyrdom, and the particular manner of it, which happened 
accordingly. 

St. Paul,* speaking of the superior excellence and blessedness of the 
New Covenant, says, *' But ye are come to mount Sion, and unto the city 
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable com- 
pany of angels," &c. By which words we cannot suppose him to mean 
less, than that by Christ, the mediator of this better covenant, a more 
free intercourse with heaven, and a more intimate fellowship with saints 
and angels, is now opened for us, if we debar not ourselves of this blessed 
privilege. What then hinders our conversing with angels now, as the 
patriarchs and prophets did of old ? What but our own fault and unfit- 
ness for such glorious company ? Why do we not now see them de • 
scending and ascending between heaven and earth, as Jacob did on the 
typical ladder? Why, but for our own unbelief, our dulness, our 
earthly-mindedness ; from which deep sleep, as to the things of God, if 
we are truly awakened, we should see cause to own, in the words of the 
same patriarch, when he awaked from the vision of the night, *' surely the 
Lord is in this place, and I knew it not."f Heaven is as near to the 
heavenly soul, as the soul is to the body ; for we are not separated from 
it by distance of place, but only by condition of state ; thus when Elisha 
was surrounded in Dothan by Syrians, his servant saw not the chariots^ 
and horsemen [the angelical host] that surrounded his master for df 
fence, as Elisha did, till the Lord opened his eyes. Just so it is with u' ■ 
unbelief and sin keep us from seeing the things that are about us ana 
near to us, and also from giving credit to the reports of those who are in 
the experience of them. 

The same apostle who cautions against despising prophesyings, does 
also give us to understand, that angels were not to discontinue their 
visits to men in future times of the church ; as, when exhorting us not 
to "be forgetful to entertain strangers," he adds, "for thereby some 
have entertained angels unawares. "J Now there would be no encour- 
agement nor argument in the latter part of the verse, unless the same 
might happen to be the case with us also. But wherefore should we 
doubt that those blessed friendly beings should take delight in exercising 
their good- will to men by many kind offices, both visible and invisible, 
according to the good pleasure of our common Lord : as by preserving 
us in many dangers, protecting us against the assaults of evil men and 
evil spirits, and by counselling, warning, and helping us, by various ways 
and means we know not of ? We ought not so to doubt of this, as we 
are apt to do, nor wonder at it : " For are they not all ministering spirits, 
sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. "§ But 
wliether manifested to us or not, sure it is, that we are more indebted to 
them for their kind assistance and ministrations than is generally believed; 

* Heb. xiu 82. t Gen. xxviii. 16. % Heb. xiii. 2. § Heb. 1. 14. 



BY TEEE REV. T. HARTLEY. IX 

as evidently appears to have been the sense of the Church of Eng and, 
heretofore at least, as thus expressed in her collect for St. Michael and 
all angels: " everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the 
service of angels and men in a wonderful order, mercifully grant, tliat as 
thy holy angels always do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment 
thev may succor and defend us on earth." 

As to the argument offered by those, who maintain the total cessation 
of these and other extraordinary dispensations, on the establishment of 
the Christian religion, or its protection by the civil powers ; viz., that 
the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, together with its settled ecclesiastical 
economy, are sufficient for salvation, and the welfare of the church, and 
therefore what is more is needless, and not to be expected : — be it 
answered, first, that the opposers of exti-aordinary dispensations do here 
take for granted the very point in question, viz. that they are ceased, 
which it is impossible for them to prove ; nay, we appeal for the reality 
of them to the authority of universal ecclesiastical history, as also to the 
records of every particular church and nation in Christendom, not to 
insist on the testimony given thereto in numberless books, tracts, and 
narratives, some or other of which have fallen in the way of every per- 
son of any reading and conversation. What credit is to be given to or 
withheld from them respectively, is another matter of inquiry ; but that 
all should be invention and forgery, requires a higher degree of credulity 
than is sufficient for believing the greater part of them ; and as to the 
reproachful epithets of monkish and legendary, so liberally bestowed on 
well-attested narratives of this kind, by such as resolve to believe 
nothing but what they can see with their eyes or touch with their hands, 
they are not to be regarded, where the grounds of credulity and evidence 
are the points in question. Many of the Roman Catholic writers stand 
confessedly chargeable with an over credulity ; and it is to be wished, 
that many of the Protestant writers were less censurable than they are 
for incredulity ; and the medium between both these extremes will be 
found the proper ground from whence to take the clearest view of these 
matters. Sure it is, that we are at this time very dangerously infected 
with doubting and unbelief, as to the things supernatural ; and that the 
general idea of Reformation, amongst us, means rather a departure from 
certain Popish errors and superstitions, than any advances in true faith 
and godliness. 

Secondly, As to what is alleged for the sufficiency of the ordinary 
means of grace, under a legal establishment of religion, for faith and 
salvation ; may we not ask such bold pronouncers, by what commission 
they take upon them to determine concerning sufficiency in this matter, 
and who gave authority to teach, that the Lord is become more sparing 
of His benefits and gifts to His church than in former times, nay, than He 
has promised to be towards it ; or do they suppose, that what is called 
an establishment of religion by the civil powers, is equivalent to the 
extraordinary gifts bestowed on the primitive Christians ? Wherefore 
should they go about to limit the loving-kindness of the Lord by their 
own scanty measure of sufficiency, since it is His usual way to give not 
only for mere necessity, but also for delectation ; His gracious attribute 
is, not only to be good, but abundant in goodness in all His works, both 
of nature and grace, where men render not themselves unqualified for 



X PREFACE 

the same ; and He that giveth one talent, is as ready to bestow ten 
talents on a due improvement of the former ; for so He giveth grace for 
grace. 

Thirdly, The inference they draw against the usefulness of miraculous 
gifts, and other extraordinary dispensations, from those words of Abra- 
ham, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, " If they hear not Moses and 
the prophets, neither will tliey be persuaded if one should rise from the 
dead," is not at all conclusive in this case; as that saying appears to 
respect such only as have hardened themselves in unbelief, by departing 
from faith in the written Word, under the ordinary means of salvation ; 
and not such as are weak in the faith, but not obdurate, as was the case 
with the disciples, who, though under our Lord's own teachings, yet, 
through the dulness of their apprehension, seemed to need some mighty 
work to make an impression on their feeble minds : and accordingly, 
when Jesus was on the way with them to raise Lazarus from the dead, 
he speaks of the ensuing miracle as useful for them among others, and 
takes satisfaction on their account, that he was not present with Lazarus 
in his sickness to heal him : " I am glad for your sakes that I was not 
there, to the intent that ye may believe ;"* that is, by seeing him raised 
from the dead. So then we are to make a wide distinction between an 
evil heart of unbelief, as where men, through an incorrigible attachment 
to sinful courses, or by taking pains to confirm themselves in infidelity, 
are proof against evidence sufficient for their conviction ; and where 
they are in unbelief through present inattention, distraction of mind from 
worldly hindrances, dulness of apprehension, and the like causes, but 
without any wilful opposition to the truth. In these last cases extra- 
ordinary means have often salutary effects, by calling off the mind from 
its wandering, by alarming and converting the sinner from the error of 
his ways. 

From what has been observed on the foregoing subject, we shall con- 
clude, that the same Lord, who in times past sent His prophets, wise 
men, and seers, and gave extraordinary tokens and warnings to awaken 
a careless world to a sense of its dano-er, has not wholly ceased in these 
last ages to manifest His power and goodness for the same end, in vari- 
ous instances, to co-operate as assisting means with the more general 
and stated provisions of His revealed will, for our incitement and benefit : 
and though some, through their unbelief and obduracy in sin, refuse to 
profit by any methods of His goodness, whether ordinary or extra- 
ordinary, yet many others may not be so far departed from the faith and 
fear of God, as to continue unreclaimable by His more particular and 
alarming visitations. Thus we read, that many were converted on seeing 
the miracles which Jesus did ; whilst the scribes, Pharisees, and rulers 
endeavored to stifle their report, and remained wilful unbehevers to the 
end ; and we well know what like opposition we have to expect from 
men of the same leaven, to every thing that may here be advanced in 
favor of extraordinary manifestations ; but were their names and number 
greater than they are, it would have no weight with us, being no 
strangers to their little length and breadth, and their want of depth, and 
ready to meet them in the field of argument, as well as prepared to 
answer every objection they have to offer ; wishing them at the same 

* John ». 15. 



BY THE KEY. T. HARTLEY. XI 

time rnore modesty, for their own sakes, than to dictate to the chui-ch 
what is sufficient, without scriptural authority. In the general division 
I am speaking of, there is a class of modest, well-meaning men, who are 
no further concerned in the matter before us, than to justify the ways ot 
God to man upon a supposition that all things are left to one settled 
scheme of things and means, as not seeing any thing beyond it, who are 
established in the faith under the use of ordinary means, and have no 
invincible prejudice against the extraordinary, but only think them not 
granted in these ages of the church : and with such I have no contro- 
versy ; but address myself only to those, who declare open war against 
all supernatural manifestations, whether they are in the profession of 
Christianity or not. 

And here I must ask ail such. To what purpose is your opposition to 
the belief of any fresh discoveries of the other world ? Is it not a sub- 
ject of the highest importance to us to know, what and where we shall 
be to all eternity, after a short passage over this bridge of time ? Are 
there not different degrees of evidence in these matters ; and supposing 
that your convictions were at all times so full in relation thereto, as to 
exclude all shadow of doubting, yet are there not infinite particulars and 
circumstances relating to the world of spirits, vdiich may serve as an 
inexhaustible fund of fresh discoveries, many of which may have been 
revealed to others, though not to us, and for us to receive from them ? 
How comes it then, that you are so void of all reasonable curiosity, as 
to prefer ignorance to information in these things, nay, to study objec- 
tions to the belief of them ? Were any prejudice allowable in this case, 
it should rather be for than against them, especially where they have a 
tendency to promote faith, virtue, and godliness. If any knowledge is 
to be coveted, surely it is that of the laws, ways, and accommodations 
of that good couiitry, which we hope to go to and live in forever. 
Besides, such extraordinary manifestations are greatly condu'^-re lo the 
good of this world, by laying before us fresh motives and encourage- 
ments in our way through it, to strive lawfully for the high prize that is 
set before us in a better, and by rousing every power and faculty of the 
mind by fresh news from heaven. If we beheve the Scriptures, we must 
allow of such an intercourse between heaven and <;arth in former times ; 
and if it be less frequent now, it is owing to the infidelity and apostacy 
of the times : for God's goodness endureth the same forever, and good 
spirits are equally desirous of holding communication with men now, as 
formerly ; but then there must be a suitableness for it on the part of the 
latter, something of that innocence and simplicity of life, which in ancient 
times served for the basis of such fellowship. 

Cautionary reserves, however, may be justifiable, nay prudent, where 
the manifestation appears to respect only the party to whom it is made, 
or for private use to some few others, according as discretion may direct ; 
yet, where it is evidently given for public benefit and use, as in the case 
of this author ; more especially if by express command ; here the person 
is to be considered as standing in the prophetic character, and therefore 
is not to consult with flesh and blood in this matter, nor to regulate hia 
measures by human prudence ; but to deliver his message boldl}^ and 
leave the event to God, lest he sufier for his disobedience, as Jonah did, 
and be obligced to dehver it at last. 



£11 PKEFACE 

But it may be asked here, if it be not reasonable to expect that evciry 
such message from heaven should have the attestation of a miracle to 
evince the truth of it ; to which it might suffice to answer, in the words 
of Job,'* that " The Lord giveth not an account of His matters." This, 
liowever, is certain, that wherever He sends a message, He also gives 
power sufficient with it to convince, or to condemn the rejection of it. 
Our Lord, in the days of His flesh, wrought miracles, sometimes to con- 
vince the understanding, sometimes to take away all excuse from the 
hardened and impenitent ; and sometimes He refrained from doing them, 
to prevent the greater condemnation of unbelievers ; thus he is said not 
to have done many mighty works in Galilee, because of their unbelief. 

But the foregoing query may be further urged into an objection of 
such apparent strength, as may be thought deserving of a more particu- 
lar answer. Thus it may be asked, if any particular revelation for public 
use and benefit, either in the way of instruction, direction, or warning, 
rests only on the credit and authority of the revealer, are we not liable 
to much deception in the matter ; and though the messenger may be a 
true one, yet might not our receiving him as such give encouragement 
to pretenders and impostors, to assume the like character in order to 
deceive, and to come with "Thus saith the Lord," in their mouths, when 
the Lord haih not spoken it ? In this case, what rule have we to go by, 
and how shall we tread firm on such slippery ground ? To this it is 
rephed, that as in old times there were false as well as true prophets 
and seers, so nothing hinders but there may be like counterfeits now 
o'days ; for in this mixed world of good and evil, where men stand in 
their liberty of speaking and acting, no infaUible provision against 
hypocrisy and imposture can take effect, but the enemy will sow his 
tares in the same field where the good husbandman has sowed his 
wheat, and Satan will at all times transform himself into an angel of 
light. Every thing has its contrary here, where good and evil are set 
one against the other ; but then the help and means are provided for 
our direction and safety : if offences are many, so also are our defences ; 
if errors are manifold, there are diversities of gifts to detect and refute 
them ; and if the father of lies and his emissaries are busy to deceive us, 
the good Spirit of God is ever ready to lead us into all truth : so that 
we have not only light in the Scriptures, but, through supplication and 
prayer, may also have light within us, from above, for the discerning of 
spirits, and for our security against all the powers of darkness. We are 
not therefore to reject truth and error indiscriminately in whatever forms 
they may appear, because the latter may wear a like garb with the 
former, but to try the spirits, and hold fast to that which is good ; 
herem imitating the fishers mentioned in the gospel, who, " when they 
had filled their net with fish of every kind, gathered the good into 
vessels, and cast the bad away."f Nay, the most illiterate Christian, 
walkmg humbly in the fear of God, and working righteousness accord- 
ing to his best knowledge, never was nor will be suffered to fall into any 
fatal delusion : simplicity and uprightness of heart place him under the 
protection of the Almighty ; and he is in the essence of truth, though 
without the formal ideas of it ; for " all the paths of the Lord are mercy 
and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. "J Mistaka 

♦ Ch. xxxii. 18. t Matt. xiii. 48. J Psalm xxv 10. 



BY THE REV. T. HARTLEY. Xlll 

he may, but cannot dangerously err ; for his very errors are innocent, 
and love sanctities all he thinks, says, and does. Thus the pure in heart 
see God in all things, and from all things reap benefit without hazard of 
loss ; whilst the perverse and ungodly " change even the truth of God 
into a lie,"* by turning that which was designed for their good into th6 
occasion of their sin. 

But to resume the subject : If it were allowed to be a justifiable cause 
for the rejection of every extraordinary dispensation that comes sup- 
ported by credible evidence, because some may falsely pretend to the 
same, the objection would be of equal force, on the side of numbers, 
against listening to their established pastors and teachers, because some 
amono' them are is^norant, some unsound in doctrine, and some handle the 
Word of God deceitfully ; and though this must be allowed to be a 
pitiable case where it happens, yet the salvation of the conscientious wor- 
shipper does by no means lie upon any such hazard ; for ordinary and extra- 
ordinary means are all one with the Lord, and rather than any sincerely 
pious and seeking soul should perish for lack of knowledge, He Avould 
send, if need Avere, an angel from heaven to be its teacher. But all such 
have an unerring guide, even the good Spirit of God ; and " them that 
are meek shall He guide in judgment, and such as are gentle, them shall 
He teach his way."f 

Lastly, it is to be observed under this article, that all who professedly 
oppose every kind of communication with the world of spirits, do not 
only deny the authority of the Sacred Records, but also set aside that 
evidence which is given to the truth of this matter, by the concurrent 
testimony of every age and nation : so that matter of fact is against them, 
and proves all their pretensions to reason and philosophy to be vain, 
whilst they go about to invalidate all authority, except that of their own 
senses ; and, I may add, even to render that doubtful likewise ; nay, I 
have heard one of this skeptical class declare, that he would not believe 
the testimony of his own senses in such a case. It is well known, that 
the heathens believed themselves to be under the care of their gods 
through the ministry of genii or tutelary spirits, and held the existence 
both of good demons, and of evil or caco-demons ; for dark as their 
dispensation was, they had shadows of truth among them sufficient to 
keep alive their belief of the soul's immortality, and they have transmit- 
ted down to us in their histories many instances of supernatural visions 
and apparitions, and of warnings by dreams : so that many of our modern 
unbelievers have less of faith in things of the other world than the very 
Gentiles, several of whom have declaimed themselves indebted to good 
and visible agents for the wisdom of their laws, for many valuable dis- 
coveries in physic, for warnings, predictions, and extraordinary deliver- 
ances.}; To give only one saying of Cicero, among many, to the same 
purpose : " I know not," says he, " any one nation, polite or barbarous, 
which does not hold, that some persons have the gift of foretelling 
future events. "§ 

But I chieily confine myself here to celestial visions, answerable to 
the following work, and which are by no means to be considered on 
the level with apparitions, whether of ghosts departed, or of spirits ol 
any other order, these last being of a far inferior kind to the first; and 

*■ Kom. i. 25. + Psalm xxv. 9. J Cicero de Divinatione. § Ibid. Lib. I. 



jay PREFACE 

yet it will not be going far out of my way to speak a few words of the 
latter. 

There is a climax in God's works of nature, or a scale ascending from 
the lowest to the highest of them, till they terminate in the great adora- 
ble Original, who is the Alpha and Omega of the universe. From these 
gradations, discovered or discoverable in the natural world, we may from 
analogy (which is our best rule here to go by) conclude, that the like 
progression takes place in the spiritual worlds, and that there is not that 
wide chasm between one and the other that is generally supposed, but 
that the most refined part of the material meets the grossest part of the 
immaterial system of beings, visible thus ending where invisible begins ; 
and consequently, that there are spirits very near us, though not discern- 
ible by us, except when, according to certain unknown laws of their ex- 
istence, or the particular will of the Lord, they become manifested to us, 
either visibly or audibly ; and highly credible it is, that all nature is 
peopled with them in its several regions of the air and earth, and its sub- 
terraneous dwellings, according to their different classes, subordinations, 
and allotments.* Milton finely expresses himself on this subject, as 
follows : 

" Think not, though men were none, 
That heaven v/ould want spectators, God want praise : 
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep," &c. 

Now to argue against their existence from their being inconspicuous, is 
an absurd conclusion for men who pretend to philosophy ; especially 
when all know what a new world of animalcula, invisible before, has 
been discovered to us by the improved microscope ; and who will say, 
that the natural]- eye of man is incapable of such further assistance, 
as may enable us to discern the subtile vehicles of certain spirits, whether 
consisting of air or ether ; certain it is, that either by condensation, or 
some other way, they can make themselves visible, and converse with us, 
as man with man ; and so innumerable are the instances hereof, as also 
of their discoveries, warnings, predictions, &c., that I may venture to 
affirm, with an appeal to the public for the truth of it, that there are few 
ancient families in any county of Great Britain, that are not possessed of 

* The pious Author of this Preface here seems, agreeably to the popular belief, to 
recognize the existence of spirits not originally derived from the human race. But 
thougli the opinion is supported by the authority of the poet, Milton, it is clearly 
shown, in the following work, that all spirits whatever came first into existence as 
men on this or some other earth. But this fact does not militate against the position, 
that there are spirits of very different orders and classes, besides angels, or the inhabit- 
ants of heaven, and devils, or the inhabitants of hell ; and that they operate with most 
power, respectively, in different localities, corresponding, respectively, to their states. 
All that tlie Author of the Preface advances respecting spirits, not immediate inhabit- 
ants either of heaven or hell, is perfectly true, when understood of the various classes 
of spirits whose abode is in what is called, in the following work, the world of spirits, 
where all are prepared for their final home, either in the heavenly or infernal regions. 
These, as is shown in the following work, are the immediate spiritual associates of 
men in the world. — JV. 

t The learned Writer of this Preface here, again, speaks according to the ordinary 
views of philosophers and divines. It is, however, clearly shown, in the following 
work, that it is impossible for spirits to be seen by the natural eye ; and that when 
they are made visible to man, it is not by clothing' themselves with vehicles of air or 
ether, and condensing these into a visible natural substance, but by the opening of tho 
sight of man's spirit, before which spirits are seen as plainly, in their own spiritual 
substance, and proper form, as are natural objects before man's natural sight. — Jf, 



BY THE BEV. T. HARTLEY. XV 

records or traditions of the same in their own houses, however the pre- 
vailing Sadducism of these times may have smik the credit of them, as 
well as in a great measure cut off communications of this kind. 

These spirits are of both sorts, like men on earth, good and bad ; as 
to the latter, they are the agents of Satan, to promote the interests of 
his kingdom, and, like their chief, ** go to and fro in the earth, walking 
up and down in it,"'* seeking whom they may deceive and destroy. 
These are enemies to good men, and the willing associates of men of 
evil dispositions, over whom they have great power through the consent 
of their will, but none otherwise, practising upon their minds and under- 
standing " with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, 
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be 
saved. "f This power of enticing, prompting, and instigating such as be- 
come their willing captives, to all kinds of evil ; and the heinous sin of 
the latter, in freely surrendering themselves into their hands to be prac- 
tised upon ; stand confessed even in the form of proceeding in our 
cov.rts of judicature in the case of atrocious delinquents, it being part in 
the charge of indictment, that they did such and such things at the 
instigation of the devil, inferring it as the aggravation of their crime, that 
they could choose the service of so bad a master. 

To contmue insensible of our danger from evil spirits, whether from 
ignorance, inattention, or the disbelief of them, is one of the sorest evils 
that can befall us, and is in the church at this day a misery to be lament- 
ed with tears of blood, as it leads to a fatal carelessness, exposes us to 
their subtle devices, and gives them an advantage over us every way. 
Nor are they an enemy lightly to be accounted of, being watchful, dili- 
gent, and full of stratagems for our ruin ; and they have moreover a h6ld 
on the corrupt pait of our nature, and well know how to use it, being 
furnished with traps of all sorts to catch the unwary, and with baits 
adapted to every vicious appetite and inclination ; having a great part of 
the honors and riches of this world at their disposal, through the power 
and influence of those that are subject to them ; and therefore it behoves 
us to be well furnished for this part of our spiritual welfare, and to put 
on the whole armor of God, seeing those we have to do with are not to 
be subdued with carnal weapons ; for here, as the apostle tells us, 
" we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of 
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. "J 
But we come now to speak of better spirits, and more to satisfaction. 

If there be legions of spirits about and near us to deceive, tempt, and 
annoy us, can we doubt of there being as many appointed to serve, help, 
and defend us, according to their several classes and offices, in this our 
world ? The conclusion is natural from parity of reason, and the law 
of opposites, according to which the Great Governor of the world has 
contrasted evil with a counterbalance of good ; consequently, such benef- 
icent beings there doubtless always have been, and are, in readiness to 
succoi* the fallen human race by their friendly ministrations, and to fill 
up the distance in the scale of created beings between men and angels. 
The darkness of the heathen world most certainly did not separate them 
from the care of that good God, who is loving to every man, and whose 
mercy is over all his works : and though their condition might not admit 

* Job i. 7. t 2 Tliess. ii. 10. X Eph. vi. 12. 



XVI PEEFACE 

of communion with angels, but in rare instances, yet the good offices of 
these kindly afFectioned ministers in their respective provinces, might, in 
a sort, be angelical to them answerably to their dispensation, and serve 
as the lowest step in Jacob's ladder for their communication with the 
heavenly world : and by what is handed down to us by authors of credit 
concerning communications of this kind to eminent persons in the heathen 
ancient worlds as Socrates and others, whether by checks and warnings, 
impulses, dreams, voices, or visions, we are not at liberty to doubt of an 
intercourse between good spirits and the well-disposed heathens of all 
ranks, as a dispensation not so unfrequent as many suppose ; seeing that 
the instances of this kind amongst ourselves, that come to public knowl- 
edge, bear no proportion in number to those that are concealed from 
us. This, however, we are assured of upon the best authority, that 
many shall come from the east and from the west [in the Gentile world] 
and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven ; 
and that many of the children of the kingdom [professors of the truth] 
shall be cast out.* 

Though we now stand in a far higher dispensation than the heathens, 
and are called to an innumerable company of angels, and to the fellow- 
ship of the Holy Ghost, yet we are not therefore to suppose, that all 
intercourse with good spirits of an mferior order is now ceased among 
us; as many, who have not yet attained to the glorious privileges of the 
gospel, and the immediate guardianship of angels, may nevertheless 
stand indebted, under God, to the miniscry of such good spirits for many 
important services, both in their spiritual and temporal affairs ; nay, they 
may be, to all of us in the natural world, what the good angels are in 
that which is purely spiritual, and by their great knowledge in the laws 
and powers of this mundane system, and by various impressions on our 
animal spirits and faculties, may contribute much to our relief, comfort, 
and preservation, in many difficulties, distresses, and dangers ; and per- 
haps few that take a serious review of the most remarkable occurrences 
of their past lives, will not be led to ascribe much of assistance to the 
instrumentality of such invisible friends ; nay, who can say that they are 
not constituted subordinate agents on various occasions in conducting the 
scheme both of general and particular providences ? There is nothing in 
this supposition that offers violence to reason or religion ; and sure it is, 
that we have abundant credible testimonies to wonderful discoveries 
made by them, of a very interesting nature, both to individuals, and also 
to society ; as of concealed writings and treasures, of murders, conspira- 
cies, and other matters leading to the administration of justice, both dis- 
tributive and punitive ;f as is well known of all conversant with men 
and books ; so that to give the lie to all such relations as credited by 
the learned, the wise, the good of all classes, must appear nothing less 
than impudence joined with infidelity. 

It has been made a common objection to the credibility of many 
apparitions, that they have been either silent, or not delivered any thing 
worthy of such extraordinary visits ; and, consequently, that such 
visions were no other than the effect of imagination and fancy, as not 
answering to any use or purpose. To which be it answered, That the 
use of such visits may be very important, though notl.ing should pass in 

* Matt. viii. 11, 12. f See, in particular, Miscellauies, by J. A.ubrey, Esq., F.II.S. 



BY TIIE EEV. T. HARTLEY. XVll 

iha way of conversation between the parties during the interview ; as, 
First, by convincing the spectator of the reahty of sucii beings as spirits, 
and so removing doubts concerning a future state, as well as by pre- 
paring him for the return of such visits to further purpose. Secondly, by 
affecting the conscience with a tender sense of duty, or with remorse for 
past offences, and impressing the mind with awful thoughts of its own 
existence in a separate state. Thirdly, by giving us to know, that we 
are the objects of regard to beings in the other world, and visible to 
them when we think not of it ; which may serve as a means to restrain 
us from indecent and offensive liberties in our most retired hours, when 
the more weighty consideration of the Divine Omnipresence may not be 
attended to, and so lose its proper effect upon us. 

But here we are called off from answering more objections on this 
subject, to observe, that this labored opposition to the belief of all inter- 
course betwixt us and the other world, too often proceeds both from a 
practical and speculative kind of atheism, and, consequently, the disbe- 
lief of a future state. Hence proceeds that countenance given to some 
late writers in favor of infidelity ; as also, that dreadful apostacy amongst 
so many in these last days, of exalting I know not what natural religion, 
in order to lessen the authority of Divine Revelation : whereas it may 
truly be affirmed, that all such resistance to, or departure from, the faith, 
imder the light of the Gospel, however it may be covered or colored 
with the name of natural religion, is nothing better than atheism. 
wretched men, here spoken of, what are you doing? What but the 
greatest possible injury to your own souls ? What but robbing your- 
selves of every comfort that reason and religion can supply to make this 
life a blessing ? And all in the miserable, mad hope, that when you die, 
you shall be of no more account than a dead dog. If there be any folly, 
it is yours ; if any insanity in the world, you are possessed of it : for if 
there be a God, you make Him your enemy through your unbelief ; if a 
>ieaven, what lot have you to hope for in such inheritance ? If a hell, 
how will you escape it ? And here also let it be asked, what is your 
character and estimation in society ; if true members of society you can 
be called, who have no pledge to give of your obedience and fidelity to 
government, as acknowledging no sanctity in an oath, which is insepara- 
bly connected with the belief of a future s4ate ? Thus void of faith, void 
of conscience, void of honor (for what is honor without conscience?) 
what have you left for a support to the slenderest virtue ? What have 
you to engage the smallest confidence from man ? Can any firm bond 
of compact or friendship find place in that heart, which has no interest 
in hereafter to care for, and wherein every motive and measure must 
take its rise and direction from the love of self and the love of this 
world ? In this case, it is more for our comfort to go by our hopes than 
our fears , and therefore one would be willing to believe, from tender- 
ness to human nature, and also from charity, that the number of those 
who are in this horrible degree of infidelity is but small. But however 
that may be, it will be proper to observe here, that to the many general 
causes of infidelity, some of which have been briefly touched on before — 
as the undue exaltation of natural reason, a life of pleasure, and confirmed 
habits of vice — we may add the spirit of controversy and dispute, long 
ago introduced into the church by the artificial logic of Aristotle^ and 
3 



XVIU PREFACE 

encouraged and kept up in the schools as a necessary part of education 
in theology ; to the engendering of perplexity and doubting on every 
subject, and keeping the mind from fixing in any settled principles of 
rehgion. The several churches of Christendom have confessedly been 
infected with this poison of fierce contention and debate, to the banishing 
of sweet peace and brotherly love ; whilst a pretended zeal for truth has 
served for a cloak to that "wrath of man, which worketh not the 
righteousness of God." But such carnal weapons ill befit the Christian 
warfare ; all such kind of striving for "factory among ourselves gives 
advantage to the enemies of our holy faith, and causes the Philistines to 
rejoice. The best way of healing differences is, by composedness and 
gentleness of mind ; and the truth of the gospel of peace is most suitably 
offered, and most readily received, by humble men, and such as are of a 
meek and quiet spirit. It is obvious to remark in this place, that Deisra, 
Sadducism, and Atheism, did never more abound amongst us, than since 
the itch of controversy and wrangling, on all occasions, has filled the 
world so full of false reasoning and perverse disputings. Nay, the con- 
tagion has descended to private life, and turned much of our conversa- 
tion into contradiction and a strife of words, and introduced a bold 
behavior and an assuming talkativeness, offensive to all modest persons ; 
insomuch that we are now in general fallen under that reprehension of 
the apostle applied to the contentious, who '* come together, not for the 
better, but for the worse."* 

After what has been replied to objections against the credibilit}'- of 
extraordinary manifestations, and also offered concerning some causes of 
unbelief in this case, we are here led to declare, not only our belief, but 
full assurance, that extraordinary communications, however now less 
frequent than formerly, are still continued to several particular members 
of the different churches, though not publicly revealed by them ; and 
that they are not to be considered only as a particular privilege, but as 
making part of the state of certain persons (not all) of eminent purity 
and piety : and the way to be inwardly convinced of this ourselves is, to 
make some approach to their state ; for however we may come short of 
them as to like vouchsafements, yet, both in the ordinary and extra- 
ordinary gifts and graces of the spirit, we are led, not only to rejoice 
with them, but by mutual fellowship do participate with them in the 
blessing ; for as in the natural body, so also in the mystical body of 
Christ, the inferior as well as the superior members jointly contribute to 
th(3 nourishment and welfare of the whole, by a circulation of that which 
every one suppheth, so that the highest cannot say to the lowest, I have 
no need of thee. Thus the meekness, the patience, and the humble 
condescension, in some, may countervail the high illuminations and 
splendid ministrations of others ; whilst a common sense of their mutual 
dependence and relation joins them all in the unity of the Spirit, to the 
edifying of the church in love ; and therefore where aijy, whether in the 
Slated office of the ministry, or others, go about to vilify or obstruct the 
success of any extraordinary way that has a manifest tendency to promote 
more true godliness, they would do well to consider and stand in awe, 
lest they be found to oppose themselves to a work of God ; for neither 
can they be sure that we are not now come to the near approach of that 

* 1 Cor xi T. 



EY THE EEV. T. HARTLEY. XIX 

glonous state of the church spoken of in so many places by the prophets ; 
when the Lord shall do great things for her in the latter days by a revival 
of His work in righteousness and peace, shall pour out His Spirit upon all 
flesh, restore the old paths of heavenly communications, and make His 
Sion a praise in the earth. However unpromising the times are, yet, 
praised be God ! we can draw comfort from the promises of better days, 
even under the " present falling away, and the revelation of the man of 
sin," foretold* to precede tlie day of the Lord's coming in the power of 
His Spirit, to sanctify and cleanse His church, and to purify unto Himself 
a peculiar people zealous of good works ; trusting in hope that this time is 
near at hand, i. e., that He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. 
And though there has been for a season a withholding, in a measure, 
from Sion, of the ordinary consolations of the Spirit, in the way of a 
judgment- work (under grace) for self-condemnation, humiliation, and 
subsequent glorification : yet we are assured that such judgment is sent 
forth unto victory over the remainder of indwelling sin : for there is a 
judgment unto righteousness, as well as a judgment unto condemnation ; 
and accordingly in the former sense it is said, that *' Zion shall be 
redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness ;"f so 
that her tribulation is for purification, and exaltation ; as it is said in 
another place, " For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with 
great mercies will I gather thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer."! ■^^'^ 
as to the restitution of her gifts, graces, and extraordinary dispensations, 
signified by precious stones, under her figurative denomination of the 
Lord's House or Temple, the prophet proceeds thus : " thou afflicted, 
tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones 
with fair colors, and thy foundations with sapphires, and all thy borders 
with pleasant stones ; and all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, 
and great shall be the peace of thy children : in righteousness shalt thou 
be established. "§ 

The above is but a small part of the glorious things that are spoken, 
by the evangelical Prophet, of the city of God, the spiritual church 
under the Gospel-dispensation in the latter days, when she shall have 
filled up the measure of her persecutions and sufferings, both from her 
open enemies, and also in the house of her friends. And we trust that 
the time draws very nigh for this glorious dispensation of the New 
Jerusalem to take place: and particularly, among other important con- 
siderations, from instances of extraordinary communications from above, 
by visions and other ways, particularly in the case of our illuminated 
Author. Nor did ever any extraordinary revolution come to pass in the 
church of God, without previous notices of it first given to some chosen 
vessels for a testimony to the times, to strengthen the weak in faith, to 
comfort the aflflicted, to alarm the careless and impenitent, or to answer 
other good purposes of the Divine Providence and Goodness. 

Other instances of the kind above-mentioned are ready at hand to 
offer, and which were received in their day, according to the dignity of 
their character, by such as were qualified to profit by their message and 
ministry ; but, as is usual in these cases, they were rejected by the 
greater part ; and their names are here passed over, as it is one design 
of this preface to guard, as far as possible, against giving occasion for 

♦ 2 Thess. ii. 3. t Isa. i. 27. X Isa. Hv. 7. § Isa. Uv. 11, 13. 



XX PREFACE 

critical cavilling and dispute ; it being sufficient for the main intent of it, 
to recommend and enforce, to the best of our power, the credibility and 
authority of the following Treatise by the honorable and learned Author, 
Emanuel Swedenborg, a native of Sweden, of eminence and distinction 
in his own country, having had an honorable employment under the 
crown, and being of the first Senatorial Order* of the kingdom ; of 
respected estimation in the royal family during the late reigns ; of exten- 
sive learning, as his voluminous writings demonstrate ; and, as to private 
life and character, irreproachable. Something more particular, as to his 
personal character, has been spoken in the Preface to the Treatise on 
the Intercourse between the Soul and the Body : and Mr. Swedenborg'a 
Letter to a Friend, giving a particular account of himself and family, 
annexed to that work, is subjoined to this Preface, the original of which 
is in my hands. 

It must be owned, that the following Treatise contains so many 
wonderful particulars relating to the world of spirits, warranted for truth 
by the ocular testimony of the writer, according to his solemn affirma- 
tion, as would appear impossible for man in this mortal body to come at 
the knowledge of, but for the like instances delivered down to us on the 
authority of the Sacred Records, and the promise therein made to the 
church of the continuance of such manifestations in it ; and the visions of 
our Author must appear to us the more extraordinary, when we consider 
that tbey were of the most exalted nature, as not being exhibited 
objectively to the bodily organs or external senses, nor yet merely 
intellectual, by representations in the mind, but purely spiritual, whereby 
spiritual beings and things were actually seen and perceived by his 
spiritual senses, as one spirit beholds another, and answering to those 
expressions in Scripture, of "being in the spirit," and of being " caught 
up by the spirit;" as likewise to that rapt, trance, or ecstasy of the apostle, 
during which he says " whether he was in the body, or out of the body, 
he could not tell."f 

The same question that will be asked here, has been briefly noticed 
already, viz.. If a testimony to so extraordinary a dispensation does not 
require the extraordinary seal of miracles to render it credible ? To 
which be it further answered, that many of the prophets worked no 
miracles, and yet were believed upon their own private testimony ; and 
that we believe many things, of the highest consequence in rehgion upon 
human authority, where the persons transmitting and delivering them 

* By the phrase "first Senatorial Order," here used by Mr. Hartley, is not to be 
understood that select body called the Senate^ which, prior to the revolution in 1772, 
exercised an authority even greater than that of the king ; but he means the first order 
of the States or Diet of the kingdom. For the States of Sweden do not, like our 
parliament, consist of two houses only, but of four, viz., the House of Nobles, the Houso 
of the Clergy, the House of Burghers, and the House of Peasants; in the first of which, 
the head or representative of every noble family in the kinofdom, whether enjoying the 
title of Count or Baron, or only ranking as a simple gentleman, has a seat. Of this 
House, Swedenborg was a member; and it is owing to this circumstance, joined to the 
difficulty which we find in this country of forming an idea of a nobleman witliout a 
title, that it has become necessary to give him the title of Baron, wliich he did not 
really enjoy. He speaks of himself, in the letter given at the conclusion of thi? Pref- 
ace, as taking his seat in the Diet with the Nobles of the Equestrian Order i 
evidently denoting a rank below that of Count and Baron, the only titles of Nobility in 
Sweden. — N. 

t 2 Cor. xii. 2. 



BY THE KEY. T. HARTLEY. XXI 

appear properly qualified and circumstanced to give credibility to what 
they relate. IJut this argument has been considered in the Preface to 
the Treatise on the hitercourse between the Soul and the Body, before 
mentioned,* and from the reasons adduced, and such as are ready to be 
further produced, if called for, we look upon our author's testimony as 
worthy of our acceptation in this matter, and venture to rely on his own 
inteo-rity and piety, and his disinterested and indefatigable labors to in- 
struct the world in the most important truths relating to salvation, at the 
expense of his fortune, and the sacrifice of all worldly enjoyments during 
the last thirty years of his life. And if we further reflect, that the 
whole scope and tendency of his writings is to promote the love of God 
and of our neighbor ; to inculcate the highest reverence to the Holy 
Scriptures ; to urge the necessity of practical holiness ; and to confirm 
our faith in the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : these 
considerations, I think, may be allowed to be sufficient credentials (as 
far as human testimony can go) of his extraordinary mission and charac- 
ter, and as convincing marks of his sincerity and truth ; especially as we 
have to add, upon the credit of two worthy persons (one of them a learn- 
ed physician,! who attended him in his last sickness), that he confirmed 
the truth of all that he had published relating to his communications 
with the world of spirits, by his solemn testimony, a very short time 
before he departed this life, in London, Anno Dom. 1Y72. 

Reader, might it not seem a wonder, if a person of so extraordinary 
and so apostolical a character, should better escape the imputation of 
madness than the prophets of old ? And accordingly some have given 
out, that he was beside himself, and, in particular, that it was occasioned 
by a fever which he had about twenty years before his death. Now it 
is well known by all his acquaintance, that our author recovered of that 
fever after the manner of other men : that his extraordinary communica- 
tions commenced many years before that time, and that his writings, 
both prior and subsequently to it, entirely harmonize, and proceed upon 
the same principles with an exact correspondence ; and that in the 
whole of his conversation, transactions, and conduct of life, he continued 
to the end of it the same uniform excellent man. Now, if to write many 
large volumes on the most important of all subjects with unvaried con- 
sistency, to reason accurately, and to give proofs of an astonishing mem- 
ory all the way ; and if hereto be joined propriety and dignity of char- 
acter in all the relative duties of the Christian life; if all this can be 
reconciled with the true definition of madness, why then there is an end 
of all distinction between sane and insane, between wisdom and folly. 
Fie upon those uncharitable prejudices, which have led so many in all 
ages to credit and propagate slanderous reports of the best of men, even 
whilst they have been employed in the heavenly work of turning many 
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God ! 

Were an anofel from heaven to come and dwell incarnate amons^st us, 
may we not suppose that his conversation, discoveries, and conduct of 
life, would in many things be so contrary to the errors and prejudices, 

* And in several works since published ; as in Hmdmarsh''s Letters to Priestley^ and 
Vindication^ &c., in answer to Pike ; Clowes' s Letters to a Memher of Parliament^ &c., 
in answer to Barrnel ; and NobWs Appeal. — N* 

t The late Dr. Mcssiter.— iV^; 



XXll PBEFACE 

the ways and fashions of this world, that many would say with one con- 
sent, He is beside himself? And where any one of our brethren, through 
the divine favor, attains to any high degree of angelical illumination and 
communications, may he not expect the like treatment ? I forget the name 
of the philosopher, whose precepts and lectures were so repugnant to the 
dissolute manners of the Athenians, that they sent to Hippocrates to 
come and cure him of his madness ; to which message that great phy- 
sician returned this answer, That it was not the philosopher, but the 
Athenians that were mad.'* In hke manner, the wise in every city and 
country are the smaller part, and therefore must be content to suffer the 
reproachful name that in truth belongs to the majority. This has been 
the case of all extraordinary messengers for good to mankind ; and the 
world is not altered in this respect. But it may be said, that though it 
be thus with the ignorant and profane, yet men of education and learn- 
ing will form a moi'e righteous judgment of the matter, and be determined 
impartially according to the nature of the evidence : and it would be well 
if this were so ; but in general it is far otherwise. Human learning, con- 
sidered merely in itself, neither makes a man a believer nor an unbeliever, 
but confirms him in truth or error, according to his prejudices, inclina- 
tions, or interest : at least it is commonly so ; and therefore we find, that 
in all ages such among the learned as devoted themselves to support the 
credit and interest of their particular professions, were always the most 
violent persecutors of the truth ; for though truth has its conveyance 
through the intellectual part in man, yet it never gains its effect, or 
operates as a principle, till it be received into the affection and will ; and 
so man is said in Scripture to be of an understanding heart. So that 
knowledge is productive of the greatest good, or the greatest evil, accord- 
ing to the ground or disposition in which it resides : when joined with 
piety and humility, it adds both lustre and force to truth ; Avhen joined 
with the corrupt passions of our nature, it is the most violent persecutor 
of it. This was the case with the scribes and Pharisees, and doctors of 
the law ; no greater enemies to Christ than they ; the pride of reputa- 
tion for learning, and the authority of public teachers, unfitted them for 
becoming learners at the feet of the lowly Jesus ; and therefore to them 
were directed those words of our Lord: " How can ye believe, who re- 
ceive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh of God 
only?"! giving us hereby to understand that the dominion of any wrong 
passion over the mind, will prove a certain hindrance in our way to 
divine truth. 

Great as our loss is by the fall, yet something of that correspondent 
relation, which originally subsisted between the human soul and divine 
truth, is still remaining with us (through grace) : otherwise we should 
no more be capable of receiving it when offered, than the brute beasts, 
(vhich have no understanding : but then, that all may not be lost by 
wilful sin, and we rendered thereby incapable of conversion, we must be 
careful not to set up idols in our hearts, nor suffer any false interest to 
mislead us ; as thereby the mind is tinctured with prejudice against the 
truth, and the understanding receives a wrong bias, and so we become 

* The story of Democritus and the citizens of Abdera seems to be tliat here allade^ 
to. — N. \ John V. 44. 



» 
BY THE EEV. T. HAJRTLEY. XXIU 

like the ftilse wise ones spoken of in Job,* who " meet with darkness in 
the day time, and grope in the noon day as in the night." This differ- 
ence in the state of the heart and the affections, occasions the difference 
we see both in the unlearned and learned of equal natural and acquired 
abilities ; that whilst some readily receive the truth m the light and love 
of it, others are always disputing, and always seeking, without ever 
coming: to the knowledgfe of it. 

As there is a correspondence, or mutual relation, between rightly dis- 
posed minds and truth in general, so likewise there is a particular cor- 
respondence or congruity bet\veen certain minds and certain truths in 
particular, producing an aptitude in the former to receive the latter as 
soon as offered, and that by a kind of intuition without reasoning : and 
hence it comes to pass, that such as have a remarkable fitness for this or 
that particular class of truths (which we usually term genius) are less 
qualified for any considerable proficiency in certain others. Thus the 
mathematician seldom excels in metaphysical knowledge ; and he that 
may be very expert in systematical divinity, is often a stranger to mysti- 
cal theology ; one member thus supplying what another lacketh ; whilst 
all may learn thereby to esteem and love one another, and praise the Lord 
for His diversity of gifts for the common benefit of his church. Let not 
then such as walk in thesimplicity of a naked faith, without needing any 
other evidence : let not such, I say, censure in the following book what 
they do not understand, or cannot receive ; as it may be of use to others, 
who are led more in the way of knowledge than themselves. We judge 
not them, nay, love them ; wherefore then should they come short of us 
in charity ? Are we not brethren, and travelling to the same good land ? 
Why then should we fall out by the way ? Even the scribes could say, 
as touching Paul, " If a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not 
fight against God :"| and who can say, that what this our Author de- 
livers to us, as from vision and revelation in the other world, is not the 
very truth ? 

Let it be observed here, in reg^ard to the ensuins: work, that thouo;h 
the narrative part of it should appear to the reader strange on account 
of its novelty, yet both that and the doctrinal pait, which is confirmed 
by plain Scripture, certainly merits his serious attention ; nay, many 
things therein, touching which the Scriptures are silent, carry weight 
and internal evidence along with ■ them in the judgment of impartial 
minds, and will often be found useful to illustrate the most important 
religious topics ; as also to enrich the mind, to familiarize heavenly things 
to the thoughts, and to wean the affections from the toys and vanities 
of a miserable world lying in wickedness. It is allowed that our author 
does not, in all places throughout his writings, follow the commonly 
received interpretation of the Scriptures ; but so neither do all churches, 
nor all expositors in the same church. Though as to life and godliness, 
and consequently what pertains to salvation, the Scriptures are suflSciently 
plain, yet, with respect to many diflficult and mysterious parts of them, 
they continue wrapped up in a venerable obscurity, to be opened accord- 
ing to the needs and states of the church throughout all ages ; and we 
doubt not to affinn, that the highly illuminated Swedenborg has been 
instrumental in bringing hidden things to fight, and in revealing tho 

* Chap. V. 14. t A jts xxiii. 9. 



XXIV PREFACE 

spiritual sense of the Sacred Records, above any other person, since the 
church became possessed of that divine treasure. In the present dark 
night of general apostasy has tliis new star appeared in our northern 
hemisphere, to guide and comfort the bewildered traveller on his way to 
Bethlehem. 

It is further to be remarked on our Author's writings, that the repre- 
sentation he therein gives us of the heavenly kingdom, sets before us 
that world of desires so objectively to the human intellect and reason, 
nay, even to our sensible apprehension, as to accommodate the descrip- 
tion of it to the clear ideas of our minds, whether they be called innate, 
acquired, or (as he pronounces them) influxive from the spiritual world. 
He gives us to know, from ocular experience, that heaven is not so dull 
a place as some foolishly suppose it, who having no ideas of it, so neither 
desire to have any; and this through a superstitious fear, in some, of 
profaning the subject by any association of natural ideas : whereas nature, 
in the state of man's innocence, was constituted a fair representation of 
the first or lowest heaven ; and though it be now sadly corrupted and 
deformed through the entrance and dominion of sin, yet as far as we can 
separate the evil from the good, so far it adumbrates to us celestial 
things ; nay, even the art and ingenuity of man, as displayed in works of 
nature, is a ray of the divine skill manifested in the human mind. Thus 
Bezaleel and Aholiab are said to have wrous^ht curious work for the ser- 
vice of the sanctuary, by wisdom and understanding given them from 
the Lord.* If, then, we receive innocent satisfaction here from viewing 
beautiful houses and gardens, why should we be so averse from thinking 
that there are celestial mansions and paradises in the kingdom of our 
Father? Does music delight us ? Why may we not hope to be enter- 
tained with more ravishing harmony from the vocal and instrumental 
melody of the angels in heaven ? How cheering both to the mind and 
senses, and also helpful to pious meditations in good men, are the sweetly 
variegated scenes of nature in the prime of i\w year ! And can we be 
unwilling to believe that corresponding heavenly scenes are provided for 
the delectation of departed happy souls in the land of bhss ? especially 
when we understand (as understand we may) thai all that is truly pleas- 
ing, beautiful, and harmonious in nature, is by influx from the spiritual 
into the natural world ; in which latter, archetypal glories are faintly 
represented to us by earthly images. It was a profane saying of a well- 
knoAvn jester and epicure, who was also a celebrated performer on the 
stage, that, " as to heaven, he had no great longing foi the place, as he 
could not see what great pleasure there could be in sitt'ng forever on a 
cloud, singing psalms." But had that person reflected, that heaven or 
hell must be the everlasting portion of every one in th*^ other world ; 
and, had he been acquainted with our Author's writings ; he would not 
have treated the glories of the place with such ludicrous profaneness,-}- 
' but have thought, and spoken, and lived, better than he did ; nay, he 
might have wished his lot to be there, even from a principle of epicurism, 
in a certain sense. For all spiritual beings must have spi^'*tual senses ; 

* Exod. XXX vi. 1. 

i- For he would then have known that the employments and joys oi 'if avon do not 
consist in an eternal round of prayer and psalmody ; at* is abundant' v ahown in the 
following work. — iV. 



BY THE REV. T. HARTLEY. XXV 

and if in heaven, tliose senses must be gratified with delights adapted 
tlierelo : but where any one is so grossly sensual, as to place the supreme 
felicity of a spirit in such gratifications as suit only with the corporeal 
part of our present degraded nature, may it not be said of such a one, 
that he has degraded it still lower, even to the level of an ass in his un- 
derstanding, and to that of a swine by his affections? The work before 
us will help the reader to very exalted conceptions of the heavenly king- 
dom, even as to those particular beatitudes which are most nearly accom- 
modated to the ideas of sense ; and he may also therein learn, that all the 
relative duties, all the social virtues, and all the tender affections, that 
give consistence and harmony to society and do honor to humanity, find 
place and exercise, in the utmost purity, in those delectable abodes, 
where every thing that can delight the eye or rejoice the heart, entertain 
the imagination or exalt the understanding, conspires with innocence, 
love, joy, and peace, to bless the spirits of just men made perfect, and 
tc make glad the city of our God. 

Such, dear reader, and so excellent, are the things here offered for 
thine entertainment and instruction by this wonderful traveller. But if, 
after all, thou canst not read him as the enlightened seer, and the extra- 
ordinary messenger of important news from the other world, read him as 
the Christian divine, and sage interpreter of the Scriptures ; read him 
as the judicious moralist, and acute metaphysician ; or read him as 
the profound philosopher : or if he cannot please thee in either of these 
characters, read him, at least, as the ingenious author of a divine 
romance. But if neither as such he can give thee content, I have only to 
add : Go thy way, and leave the book to such, as know how to make a 
better use of it. And such, I trust, are not a few among the serious ; 
being willing to hope, for the honor of our country, that if such a 
ludicrous representation of hell as passes under the title of the Visions of 
Don Quevedo, could make its way amongst us through no less than ten 
editions, there will not be wanting in the land a sufficient number of 
persons of sober reflection and contemplative minds, to give all due 
encouragement to a work so well calculated, as this is, to promote true 
wisdom and godliness, by credible testimony to the realities of the world 
of spirits, and to the respective states and conditions of departed souls. 

As to the persons concerned in translating and conducting the pubhca^ 
tion of the following extraordinary work, I may venture to say, that they 
deserve well of the public, as far as the most disinterested pains and 
benevolent intentions can justify the expression : and though we are far 
from obtruding the contents of this book on any, as demanding an 
implicit faith therein, yet we cannot but zealously recommend them to 
the most serious attention of those who are qualified to receive them, as 
subjects of the greatest importance, high as heaven and deep as hell, 
and comprehending all that is within us, and without us ; as a key that 
unlocks all worlds, and opens to us wonderful mysteries both in nature 
and grace ; as displaying many hidden secrets of time and eternity, and 
acquainting us with the laws of the spiritual worlds ; as leading us from 
heaven to heaven, and bringing us, as it were, into the company of 
angels, nay, into the presence chamber of the King of saints, and Lord 
of glory. In a word, whatever is most desirable to know, t\ hatever is 
most deserving our affections, and whatever is most interesting in 



XXVI PEEFACE 

things pertaining to salvation; all this is the subject of the following 
volume, 

i We are not unprepared for the opposition that may be expected to 
any fresh discoveries of truth ; especially, as has been observed before, 
where the credit or interest of any considerable profession or body of 
men is concerned. Established doctrines and opinions are considered as 
sacred, and the sanction of custom gives them, with many, the firmness 
of a rock ; as is known to have been the case in physic, astronomy, and 
natural philosophy, in which truth, though supported by the evidence of 
demonstration, has scarcely been able to make its way in a century. 
Besides, the pride of learning is strong on the side of established insti- 
tutes ; and for men to part with what they have been building up with 
much study and pains for a great part of their lives, is a mortifying con- 
sideration ; they are startled at the thoughts of becoming thus poor, and 
some would be as wilhng to part with their lives as with their acquisitions 
of this kind ; and hence it is, that we read of so many martyrs to error 
and folly in all ages. These things considered, we are not to wonder 
that our author's publications have met with no better encouragement 
hitherto in his own country (as is usually the case with prophets), we 
being informed some time ago by a worthy merchant residing at Gotten- 
burg, that but few of the clergy (as far as had come to his knowledge) 
had there received them ; and that the Reverend Dr. Beyer, a learned 
man, and professor in divinity in that university, had suffered much 
persecution for adopting and propagating the truths contained in his 
writings, and was not suffered to print his explication and defence of 
them in Sweden.* But, to the honor of our constitution, we can as yet 
call the liberty of the press (and a liberty within the bounds of decency 
may it always be) the privilege of Englishmen, and therefore may reason- 
ably hope for better success to our author's writings in this land of 
freedom ; not that we expect any encouragement on their behalf from 
our Pharisees and bigots of any denomination, for they are the same 
everywhere ; but our hopes are from men of unprejudiced minds, dead to 
self and the world, of a simplified understanding, and such as are friends 
to wisdom wherever they find her; in a word, whose spirit harmonizes 
with truth, and whose hearts are in unison with heavenly things. 

I cannot think of concluding this preface without speaking somewhat 
particularly to a point of doctrine, the knowledge of which is the more 
necessary to the reader for the right understanding of the author's 
writings, as, in the vast variety of subjects and new discoveries that he 
presents to us, it has a principal connection with most of them ; nay, is 
the true key in his hand that opens the secrets of the visible and invisible 
worlds, explains man to himself, and also reveals the spiritual sense of 
the Sacred Writings. The doctrine I am here speaking of is that of 
correspondence. 

Correspondence, in a philosophical sense, is a kind of analogy that one 
thing bears to another, or the manner in which one thing represents, 
images, or answers to another ; and this doctrine, as it refers to things in 
heaven and in earth, according to their natural relations, is given us in 
the following adage of the renowned Hermes Trismegistus : — Ormiia 

* It is to be recollected that this was written in tiie year 1778 ; since which pe^*»(? ' 
the number of friends to the truth in Sweden has very greatly increased. — N. 



BY THE KEY. T. HAETLEY. XX VH 

quoB in coelis, sunt in terris ierrestri modo ; omnia quce in terris, sunt in 
ccelis coelesti rnodo.* 

This natural or material world, in which we live as to the body, pro- 
ceeds derivatively from the spiritual world, and subsists by continual 
influx from it : it is a spiritual thing formed into a palpable and material 
thing, as an essence clothing itself with a form, or as a soul making to 
itself a body. Therefore this world, and all things in it, as far as they 
stand in the divine order, correspond to heaven and heavenly things ; but 
now (through the fall of man) standing in evil as well as good, the dark, 
evil, or hellish world has gained a form in outward nature. Hence it is, 
that so many evil men, evil beasts, and poisonous things, together with 
all the disorders in the natural world, bear its impressions and properties, 
and make this world a kind of torment-house to us. Man, considered in 
himself, is a little image of heaven or hell, and also of this outward 
world, which no other being is ; and therefore he is the most wonderful 
of all God's creatures. At death, he puts off his part in this material king- 
dom, and passes into one of the other two, being its servant to which he 
obeys or unites himself here by his will and affections ; and therefore he is 
commanded to set his " affections on things above,"f as they constitute 
the band of union betwixt heaven or hell and the soul of man. These 
three worlds may be called principles ; as, first, the light or heavenly 
world ; secondly, the dark or hellish world ; and thirdly, this natural or 
material world ; and man's reasoning faculty stands in the centre of tlie 
three, and receives impressions from each, as it tunis to one or other of 
them, then speculates on the materials it derives thence, and contends 
for or against right and truth, even as the affections are set, for these 
bias, lead, or bribe it ; and therefore, if reason be not enlightened from 
above, under the conduct of good affections, it is a mere mercenary, 
ready to enlist on any side. 

The human nature was so almost universally corrupted at the time ol 
our Saviour's advent in the flesh, that unless Jesus Christ had come into 
the world when He did, to restore the heavenly principle of light and 
grace, or truth and goodness, through the medium of His Humanity (all 
immediate communication between God and the soul beinsr well nio-h 
ceased), the human race must have perished, by falling irrecoverably 
into the evil principle, to the utter extinction of truth, and the loss of all 
free-will to good ; but by the entrance of this Divine Friend into the 
human nature. He opened the closed gate of communication between 
heaven and earth, God and the soul, and so became our great Mediator 
and gracious Redeemer. But still we are at liberty to receive or reject 
Him as our sanctification and complete redemption ; for man can only be 
saved consistently with choice and free-will. ' . 

Men had lost the true original language of nature (which expressed 
things according to their qualities and properties) before the flood, even 
so much of it as remained among the posterity of Seth and Enoch for a 
considerable time ; and this ignorance they fell into on their losing the 
knowledge of nature in its correspondence to divine and heavenly things ; 
for nature in its proper order, as observed before, is the book of God; 

* AU things which are m the heavens exist also in the earth in an earthly ma/rmer , 
9nd all thmgs which are in the earth exist aUo in the heavens m a hea/oerdy manrier. 
i Col. iii. 2. 



XXYlll PREFACE 

and exhibits spiritual things in material forms. In the room, therefore, 
of this, was substituted a language by letters and reading in books, to 
help him this way for attaining to divine knowledge, as rudiments leading 
thereto in our present state of ignorance, in which literature is mistaken 
by most for wisdom itself : however, the door was and still is open for 
immediate heavenly communications ; but through unbelief, earthly- 
mindedness, and other sad impediments, few at this time are qualified for 
so high a privilege. 

The early ancients after the flood had a knowledge of correspondence 
derived down to them by tradition, though without any perception of it 
in themselves: and it remained longest among. the Egyptians, of which 
their hieroglyphics or sacred sculptures were a principal part ; but by 
degrees they became so far corrupted and blind, as to lose sight of the 
things represented, and to worship their representatives or images. 
Hence the original of their foolish idolatry of beasts, birds, fishes, and 
vegetables. Our enlightened author, had he lived longer, designed, as 
he told me, to give us the key to the ancient hieroglyphical learning, 
saying at the same time, that none but himself could do it ; but this he 
did not five to publish. 

The knowledge of correspondence is now almost entirely lost, especially 
in Europe, where even the name is little understood ; and this is one 
main cause of the obscurity of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, 
which were wholly written by the rules of this science ; nay, man also, 
as an image of the spiritual and natural worlds, contains in himself the 
correspondences of both, of the former in his interior, and of the latter in 
his exterior or bodily part, and so is called the microcosm, or little world. 
Thus for example ; all the organs of his senses, his features, bowels, and 
vessels, even to the minutest vein and nerve, correspond to something in 
the soul or spiritual part. On the other hand, the affections and passions 
of the mind represent themselves naturally in the face and features, so 
that the countenance would be the natural index to the mind, were men 
in a state of simplicity, without guile and dissimulation ; and yet, as 
matters stand at present, so much still appears of the mind, in the corre- 
spondent features of the face, as to serve for a type, signature, or impres- 
sion thereof. Thus love, hatred, hope, fear, joy, sorrow, assent, contempt, 
surprise, (fee, do naturally, and often involuntarily, manifest themselves 
in the visage ; in like manner the will, by the actions and motions of the 
body ; the understanding expresses itself in the speech, and the affections 
in the tone of voice ; and all these by influx from within, and coiTe- 
spondence from without ; and as the features correspond to the affec- 
tions, so does the eye to the intellect, the nose to the faculty of discerning, 
and the ears to attention and obedience ; accordingly we use the word 
quick- sighted, to signify a ready apprehension; and penetration or dis- 
cernment is sometimes expressed by smelliyig a thing out ; and to hearJccUy 
in Scripture, means to obey. Be it likewise observed, that the heart 
corresponds to sincerity of love ; the loins, (fee, to conjugal affection ; the 
hands and fingers to operation, (fee. ; and so much of the language of 
nature still remains, as to express by these outward representatives the 
corresponding powers, passions, and affections of the soul, which influ- 
ences and actuates these several members and parts ; as every one 
experiences. And as the body in its several parts and offices corresponds 



BY THE REV. T. HARTLEY. XXIX 

to the soul and its operations, so does the soul in its several faculties and 
powers to the heavenly world in all things good, and to the heliisli world 
•n all things evil. Thus wisdom, love, purit}^ innocence, &c., have refer- 
ence to the celestial kino^dom, as being communications by influx from 
thence ; and therefore it is that lieaven bears a near analogy to man (as 
standing in his right order), and is called by our author The Grand 
Man : for the human form is the most perfect of all, and, accordingly, 
God assumed it in condescension to man,* represents Himself to us by 
it, and manifests Himself in it, at times, to the holy angels : so likewise 
the angeUcal societies, according to their distinguishing qualities and 
excellence, bear a particular relation to this or that part of the human 
form. Thus, as our author informs, us, one society corresponds to, or is 
in, the province of the head, and they are such as excel in wisdom ; 
another to the heart, being such as excel in love ; and some to the arms, 
as being of superior strength ; and so on. Thus, as the body corresponds 
to the soul, so the soul, in its true state and order, corresponds to heaven, 
and heaven to God, who is the only original fountain of goodness and 
truth, of all blessedness and perfection ; from whom they descend, in 
their diflferent kinds and degrees, through the heavenly and spiritual 
worlds, down to this last and lowest form of creation, the earth in which 
we now dwell. 

The earth likewise, in its different kingdoms, animal, vegetable, and 
mineral, corresponds to things in the spiritual world. Thus not only 
the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, according to their dif- 
ferent properties, have a representative meaning in Scripture, but also 
trees and plants of various kinds ; so, in particular, those of the aromatic 
kind, as also the olive, the vine, and the cedar, do figure divine gifts and 
graces, and other rare endowments in the human heart and mind ; and 
in like manner, gold, silver, precious stones, and other particulars of rich 
furniture in the tabernacle and temple, are mentioned in Scripture with a 
corresponding reference to goodness, truth, purity of affection, holiness, 
&c. : and so the wisest interpreters have expounded them, and this not 
by arbitrary significatit)ns, but as outward proper signs of things inward 
and spiritual. Thus all nature is a theatre of divine wonders, repre- 
sentative of the invisible world to such as are of a rio^ht understandins; 
and discernment ; as our author has exemplified in a thousand instances. 
It is hoped, that what has been here offered on the subject of correspond- 
ence, will be found useful to such as are in a disposition to give the fol- 
lowing work an attentive perusal. 

From the great variety of important subjects and discoveries to be 
met with in our Author's writings, I cannot refrain from observing on 
one more, as deser^'ing our particular regard, as also to prepare the 
reader for what he is to meet with in this volume, viz., the doctrine of 
the intermediate state of departed souls, called here the World of Spirits^ 
as being that in which they all meet after death (except a very few, who 
pass directly to heaven or hell), in order to their last preparation for final 

* We are not to understand by this expression that the Lord was not iu a human 
form prior to the incarnation ; what He then assumed in condescension to man, or for 
our redemption, was the human nature in last or lowest principles, as He had always 
been a Man in fii*st principles ; man being a man, and in a h iman form, from Him. 
b^ing created after His ima^je and likeness. — 2f. 



XXX PEEFACE 

bliss or misery. This doctrine has long been received in the chur ;h, and 
revealed to many by their departed friends ; but having been much 
disjSgured and misrepresented, like some other truths, by erroneous 
additions and lucrative figments in the church of Rome, it was not admit- 
ted by our first Reformers, who, instead of reforming the doctrine, totally 
rejected it, under the opprobrious name of a Popish purgatory : how- 
ever, it has been retained by most of the spiritual, otherwise called mystic 
writers, in all churches, and I have seen a judicious defence of it by the 
Hon. Archibald Campbell in our own ; but the book, I believe, is scarce. 
Sure it is, that as far as our Author's credit and authority extend, the 
truth of the doctrine will not be questioned, as he relates that he had 
frequent translations of spirit to that intermediate world, and had there 
seen and conversed with most, if not all, his departed friends and ac- 
quaintance, besides a great number of others, to the amount of very many 
thousands. In this intermediate world, the good spirits are gradually 
purified from all the stains and defilements of sin which they had con- 
tracted in this world ; whilst the good principle predominating in them 
takes full possession of all their faculties and powers, confirms them in 
good habits, and renders them meet to be partakers of heavenly joys ; on 
which they are translated to heaven : on the other hand, the bad spirits 
are gradually divested of those superficial and apparent virtues, and all 
that adventitious, external good, which before had served as covers to the 
evil principle within, which now predominates without reserve or control, 
confirming them in their evil habits, and their repugnancy to all good ; 
which being effected, they precipitate themselves into the infernal pit, to 
join company with such as are like themselves. Thus what is a state of 
purification to the good, is to bad spirits a state of separation of all 
extraneous good from that radical evil which constitutes the essence of 
their nature. 

Now this doctrine appears consonant, first, to reason, as it accords 
^vith the tenor of the divine administration in the government of this 
world, in which all things proceed to their limit or completion in a reg- 
ular and gradual process. Secondly, it is consonant to religion, as it 
vindicates the divine attributes from all imputation of undue severity, 
by laying man's destruction at the proper door, and as the inevitable 
consequence of his own free choice. Thirdly, this doctrine yields con- 
solation to the humble pious Christian, as the time of his departure 
draws nigh. Few such, upon a strict examination of themselves, are so 
well satisfied with their state, as to find nothing lacking, but that they are 
already fitly qualified for the society of the holy angels ; whereas the be- 
lief that an intermediate state is appointed, wherein every thing that now 
hindereth shall be removed out of the way, and their souls purified from 
every pollution and spot contracted by their union with this fleshly na- 
ture, through the prevailing power and energy of the divine principle 
within them, and so bringing them into the state of just men made per- 
fect, is a consideration well calculated to afford them comfort, and enable 
them to meet their change with a holy confidence. 

If this be so, and that the same intermediate state which purifies the 
good spirits leaves the bad under the total dominion of evil by their own 
free choice, that so both may be possessed by their own proper principle 
respectively, and go to their own proper place ; how say some, that the 



BY THE EEV. T. HAETLEY. XXXI 

devils will be eventually transformed into angels of light, at a certain 
time appointed by the Father? We desire here to oppose, Tvith the 
greatest tenderness, a doctrine which we have heretofore judged favora- 
bly of, and modestly to offer the reasons of our present dissent, wishing 
ratiier that we could aofree with some excellent men on the other side of 
the question : but human wishes are no rule of the divine proceedings, 
and even charity must be directed by the principle of truth, and the 
established laws and nature of things. We find ourselves called upon to 
offer a few observations on this subject, at a time when there is much 
reason to believe, that many have revived this doctrine more to quiet 
their fears, and to lull them into a false peace, than from any conviction 
of their understanding ; whereas they may be supplied with a much 
surer remedy against those fears in the comfortable promises to the truly 
penitent delivered in the gospel of our most compassionate Saviour, 
whose last declaration to His disciples before His ascension was, *' That 
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among 
all nations."* 

It is evident that the plainest Scriptures (and such we are to go by) 
are against the doctrine before mentioned ; and that the same force ot 
words that is therein used to express the eternal happiness of those that 
are saved, is also made use of to express the eternity of their state who 
are lost. But the advocates for that side of the question rest their ^lea, 
and the stress ')f their argument, on the foot of Divine Mercy ; and God 
forbid that we should go about to straiten that mercy towards others 
(though even devils), to which the very best of us stand indebted both 
for all we have, and all we have to hope for ; and did the matter of the 
question turn merely upon mercy, in like manner as a gaol-delivery de- 
pends on the arbitrary clemency of an earthly prince, I doubt not, that 
either one single soul would not go to hell, or if any, that a host of angels 
would be sent thither with a message of mercy ; nay, if necessary to their 
salvation, that even Jesus Christ Himself would condescend so far, as to 
visit those unhappy prisoners with a free offer of peace and reconcilia- 
tion for their redemption. But here it must be observed, that mercy 
misunderstood and misapplied, is no other than man's own false idea of 
mercy. God's mercy in regard to man respects him as a creature that 
He has endowed with freedom of will, and whose happiness or misery 
depends on the right or wrong direction of his choice and affections, by 
which he becomes capable or incapable of the Divine Mercy. Now to 
compel such a creature, is to undo him, to unmake him what he is ; and 
therefore mercy, with regard to him, is to provide for him such means 
and motives as may influence his understanding, will, and affections, to 
what is good, as his free choice. Now, through the mercy of God, 
every thing is done in this life (which is man's only state of probation) in 
order to this end, though man knoweth it not ; how then are we to ex- 
pect, that any means of this kind should be more effectual in the other 
world, wherein all things are represented to us as unchangeable, where 
the tree lieth as it falls, for heaven or hell ? Praised be the name of the 
Lord, for his mercy endureth forever ! And as it is infinite, so it extends 
to all possible cases : but to make us good, that we may be qualified for 
happiness against our will, is no possible case, seeing that to be good, is 

* Luke loriv. 47. 



XXXU PREFACE 

to will good with desire and affection, which the self-hardened and im- 
penitent are averse to, and therefore render themselves unreceptive of 
mercy. Now the very idea of diabolism carries in it repugnance and 
hatred to God and goodness, and consequently the greatest contrariety 
to the possibility of conversion. Were it otherwise, and that the most 
malignant spirit in hell could sincerely say, "Lord, I am weary and 
ashamed of this evil nature, and sorry for the sins that have brought me 
into it ; help and deliver me, through Thy mercy, from it, that I may 
be converted, and become Thy servant !" in this case, he would instantly 
cease to be a devil, and become an object of the Divine Mercy ; but re- 
pentance, prayer, and the desire of good, is all from the grace of God, 
and can in no wise dwell in those who are the willing servants of sin, and 
therefore only free/ro??^, not to, righteousness.* 

It is supposed by some, that length of suffering will at last subdue the 
reluctance of the will, melt the heart into tenderness, and turn the worst 
of evil spirits to repentance and supplication for pardoning mercy, and 
qualify them for it ; but this, as just now observed, is the sole effect of 
that grace which they are not admissive of, and is not the effect of suf- 
fering, which has no such power belonging to it ; but has its different 
effects relative to the different states of those who are the subjects of its 
operation. Thus we see, that as the same fire which melts the wax, 
hardens the clay, so the sharpest sufferings have contrary effects on 
different persons. They who have any remnant of grace in their inmost 
soul (however unrighteous they have been outv.rardly), any spark of the 
divine life still remaining in their interior, are softened and ameliorated 
by them, and become obedient to the heavenly voice that cries within 
them, '' Why will ye die ? Turn unto the Lord, that iniquity may 
not be your ruin :" whilst the obdurate and impenitent say in their 
hearts with Pharaoh, " Who is the Lord, that we should obey him ?" 
and turn that punishment which should be for their amendment into 
the occasion of their blasphemy and despair. I desire not to strain any 
argument beyond its proper strength against an hypothesis, which I find 
myself more ready to receive, upon any satisfactory grounds, than to 
reject : but let truth he ever held sacred and inviolable, whether it be ac- 
cording or contrary to our natural inclinations and wishes : nor let that 
be called a want of charity, where charity is not concerned, or would 
r.uffer perversion and abuse. 

We are encouraged to hope, that many things which have been 
offered in the course of this Preface will be found properly introductory 
to the following volume ; and shall now conclude it with two or three 
short remarks to the serious reader, as no other is capable of reaping 
any benefit from our author's writings ; nor to others have we any thing 
to say, unless it be to caution them against treating with derision or 
scurrility such matter as they may be more nearly concerned in than 
they at present suppose. Even the very dreams of good men, in relation 
to the things of the other world, have at times something divine in them, 
and are not lightly to be regarded : but where such communicate to us 
important instructions and discoveries as by commission, and from their 
own experience, and that with deliberation, consistency, and clearness, 
they demand our attention and reverence. And here it is to be observed, 

* Kom. i*. 20. 



BY THE KEY. T. HARTLEY. XXXUl 

that what this Author has published to the world concerning the states 
of departed souls respectively, the laws of the invisible worlds, and a 
thousand particular circumstances belonging thereto, appear such as 
could never enter into heart of man to conceive, unless they had been 
given to him from above, and also carry something of an internal evidence 
along with them, as soon as they are received by a serious mind ; for, 
after all, it is more the right temper and disposition of the mind, than its 
sagacity, that gives us to see these things in their proper light. It is 
every wise man's care to guard against a stubborn incredulity on the one 
hand, as well as against any delusion that an overhasty belief might 
expose him to on the other ; and in this age of doubting and disputing 
all things of a spiritual nature, our greater danger is confessedly from 
the former side, and therefore it behoves us to give the more heed, that 
we lean not to the error of the times. Besides, the weight and impor- 
tance of the subjects here treated of adds to the credibility of the 
message, as coinciding with our confidence in the promises of the Lord, 
that He will reveal His secrets to Kis servants, and not forsake His 
church in the time of her extremity, but send His extraordinary messen- 
gers and ministers, endued with light and power from on high to alarm 
.the careless, to call back the wanderers, to confirm the wavering, and to 
comfort the spirit of the humble and contrite ones with glad tidings from 
the heavenly Canaan, the lot of their inheritance ; and this in order to 
make ready a people prepared for the Lord against His second advent in 
spirit, to build up the walls of the New Jerusalem : and when should 
such messengers be more expected, or when entitled to a better welcome, 
than in this our time of desolations, when faith and charity have so far 
failed amongst us, and when darkness is on the face of the deep, — dark- 
ness in the church, and darkness in the state, — darkness in the minds of 
good men, and darkness on all the dispensations of Providence ; so as to 
give emphatical application of those words of the Psalmist to our present 
condition : " It is time, Lord, that Thou have mercy upon Sion, yea, 
the time is come."* But who are they that most reject the testimony 
of those special messengers, and those faithful witnesses to the truth, 
which the Father of Lights has cent from time to time for the edification 
of His church, and the confirmation of the faith of many in it ? Who but 
such as are ever calling out for more evidence for believing, and pleading 
the want of it in justification of their unbelief ; whilst at the same time 
they labor all they can to invalidate the evidence of all human testimony, 
which is the ordinary medium through which divine truth is conveyed 
tons? 

And now, dear reader, I bid you farewell, sincerely wishing that you 
may be of the number of those who take the Holy Scriptures for their 
guide, as their authentic outward rule of faith and life, and in an honest 
ind good heart receive the Word of God, and keep it ; and may the 
Spirit of Wisdom give us a right judgment in all things pertaining to 
salvation, that so we may be preserved from error through an over-hasty 
credulity on the one hand, and an obstinate incredulity on the other ; 
neither rejecting the testimony of men fearing God, and of good report, 
as to what great things the Lord hath done for them, and to be com- 
municated by them for the benefit of their brethren ; not suflFering 

* Psalm oiL 18. 

4 



XXXiy PREFACE BY THE EEV. T. HAETLET. 

ourselves to be imposed on by the cunnmg craftiness of such as lie in 
wait to deceive : and as it is more profitable for us to have the heart 
established in grace, and to glorify God in our lives, than to be gifted 
with visions and particular revelations (through danger of being exalted 
above measure thereby), so let us not be high-minded, but fear; nor, 
because others have been so favored, expect or desire the same ourselves, 
but walk humbly and contentedly in the way of God's ordinary dispensa- 
tions, lest presumption or a vain curiosity should expose us to the danger 
of delusion from our spiritual enemy. As to those that cannot receive 
many of the things delivered in the following work ; and also as to those 
that do receive them ; let them not judge one another, but follow the 
rule of moderation laid down by the Apostle,* every one abiding by that 
of which he is persuaded in his own mind, in a candid forbearance 
towards others. In men of a Christian spirit, charity easily beareth all 
such things, believeth all things for good, and hopeth all things for the 
best; and as we are all brethren on a journey to the same heavenly 
country, so let us hold on our way together in peace, and that love which 
is more than knowledge: and may the God of peace and love be 
with us. 

* Som. ziy. 



AN ANSWER TO A LETTER FROM A FRIEND, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



I TAKE pleasure in the friendship you express for me in your letter, 
and return you thanks for the same ; but as to the praises which you 
bestow upon me, I only receive them as tokens of your love of the truths 
contained in my writings, and so refer them to the Lord our Saviour, 
from whom is the all of truth, because He is the Truth (John xiv. 0). 
It is the concluding part of your letter that chiefly engages my attention, 
where you say as follows: "As after your departure from England 
disputes may aiise on the subject of your writings, and so give occasion 
to defend their author against such false reports and aspersions, as they 
who are no friends to truth may invent to the prejudice of his character, 
may it not be of use, in order to refute any calumnies of that kind, that 
you leave in my hands some short account of yourself ; as concerning, 
for example, your degrees in the university, the offices you have borne, 
your family and connections, the honors which I am told have been con- 
ferred upon you, and such other particulars as may serve to the vindica- 
tion of your character, if attacked ; that so any ill-grounded prejudices 
may be obviated or removed? For where the honor and interest of 
truth are concerned, it certainly behoves us to employ all lawful means 
in its defence and' support." After reflecting on the foregoing passage, 
I was induced to comply with your friendly advice, by briefly communi- • 
eating the following circumstances of my life. 

I was born at Stockholm, in the year of our Lord 1689,* Jan. 29th. 
My Father's name was Jesper Swedberg, who was Bishop of West- 
rogothia, and a man of celebrity in his day. He was also elected a 
member of the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ; and 
he was appointed as Bishop over the Swedish churches in Pensylvania 
and London by King Charles XII. In the year IVIO, I began my 
travels, first into England, and afterwards into Holland, France, and 
Germany, and returned home in 1714. In the year 1716, and after- 
wards, I frequently conversed with Charles XIL, King of Sweden, who 
was pleased to bestow on me a large share of his favor, and in that year 
appointed me to the office of Assessor in the Metallic College ; in which 
office I continued from that time till the year 1747, when I quitted the 
office, but still retain the salary annexed to it as an appointment for life. 
The sole reason of my withdrawing from the business of that employment 
was, that I might be more at liberty to apply myself to that new function 
to which the Lord had called me. A hiorher deo-ree of rank was then 
offered me, which I declined to accept, lest pride on account of it should 
enter my mind. In 1719 I was ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora, and 
named Sioedenhorg ; from which time I have taken my seat with the 
ISTobles of the Equestrian Order, in the Triennial Assemblies of the States. 
I am a Fellow, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stock- 
holm ; but have never sought admission into any other literary society,f as 
I belong to an angelical society, in which things relating to heaven and the 

* It has been aseertamed that this should be 16S8. — N. 

I It appears, however, from Sandel, that he was also a member of the Academy of 
Sciences of St. Petersburg, from which a diploma of fel" owship was sent him on the 
publication of his Eegnum Mmerale. 



XXXVl A^SWEE TO A LETTER. 

soul are the only subjects of discourse and entertainment ; whereas in our 
literary societies the attention is wholly taken up with things relating to 
the world and the body. In the year 1734, I published the Regnum 
Minerale, at Leipsic, in three volumes, folio; and in 1738 I took a 
journey into Italy, and staid a year at Venice and Rome. 

With respect to my family connections : I had four sisters ; one of 
them was married to Erich Benzelius, afterwards promoted to the Arch- 
bishopric of Upsal ; and thus I became related to the two succeeding 
Archbishops of that see, both named Benzelius, and younger brothers ot 
the former. My second sister was married to Lars Benzelstierna, who 
was promoted to a provincial government. But these are both dead : 
however, two bishops who are related to me are still living. One of 
them is named Filenius, Bishop of Ostrogothia, who now officiates as 
President of the Ecclesiastical Order in the Diet at Stockholm, in the 
room of the Archbishop, who is infirm ; he married the daughter of my 
sister. The other, who is named Benzelstierna, Bishop of Westermannia 
and Dalecarlia, is the son of my second sister. Not to mention others of 
my family who enjoy stations of dignity. I converse freely, and am in 
friendship, with all the bishops of my country, who are ten in number ; 
and also with the sixteen Senators, and the rest of the Peers, who love 
and honor me, as knowing that I am in fellowship with angels. The 
King and Queen themselves, as also the three Princes their sons, show 
me all kind countenance ; and I was once invited to dine with the King 
and Queen at their table (an honor granted only to the Peers of the 
realm) ; and likewise, since, with the Hereditary Prince. All in my own 
country wish for my return home ; so far am I from having the least fear 
of being persecuted there, as you seem to apprehend, and are also kindly 
solicitous to provide against ; and should any thing of that kind befall me 
elsewhere, it will give me no concern. 

Whatever of worldly honor and advantage may appear to be in the 
things before mentioned, I hold them as matters of respectively little 
moment, because, what is far better, I have been called to a holy office by 
the Lord Himself, who most graciously manifested Himself in person to 
me His servant, in the year 1743,* and then opened my sight into the 
spiritual world, and endowed me v/ith the gift of conversing with spirits 
and angels, which has been continued to me to this day. From that 
time I began to print and publish various arcana, that have been either 
seer by me or revealed to me ; as concerning heaven and hell ; the state 
of man after death ; the true worship of God ; the spiritual sense of the 
Word ; and many other highly important matters tending to salvation 
and true wisdom : and the only motive which has induced me at different 
times to leave my home and visit foreign countries, was the desire of 
beinsr useful, and of communicatino^ the arcana intrusted to me. As to 
this world's wealth, I have sufficient, and more I neither seek nor wish for. 

Your letter has drawn the mention of these things from me, with a 
view, as you suggest, that any ill-grounded prejudices may be removed. 
Farewell; and from my heart I wish you all fehcity both in this world 
and in the next ; which I make no doubt of your obtaining, if you look 
and pray to our Lord. 

London, 1769. EMAN. SWEDENBORG. 

♦ It appears from a passage in his Spiritual Diary, n. 897, lately published, that the 
last figure must be an error, tho actual year being 1745. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



INTRODUCTION. 



1. In the Lord's discourse with his disciples respecting the 
consummation of the age,"^ which means the last time of the 
church,(') at the close of his predictions concerning the succes- 
sive states through which it would pass in regard to love and 
faith,(^ are these words : ^''Immediately after the tribulation of 
those days^ shall the sun he darkened^ and the moon shall not 
give her lights and the stars shall fall from heaven^ and the 
powers of the heavens shall he shaken. And then shall appear 
the sign of the Son of man in hea/ven : and then shall all the 
tribes of the earth m^ourn / and they shall see the Son of man 
coming in tJie clouds of heaven with power and great glory.. And 
he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet^ and 
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds^from one 
end of heaven to the otlierP — Matt. xxiv. 29, 30, 31. They who 
anderstand these words according to the literal sense, have no 
other idea, than that, at the last time, which is called the last 
judgment, all these circumstances will happen according to 
their literal description : thus they not only imagine that the 
sun and moon will be darkened, that the stars will fall from 
heaven, that the sign of the Lord will appear in heaven, and 
that they shall see him in the clouds attended by angels with 
trumpets, but they also suppose, from predictions in other places, 
that the whole visible world will perish, and that a new heaven 
and a new earth will afterwards be established. This is the 
opinion of many within the church at this day. But th^y who 
entertain these notions are unacquainted with the arcana which 
are contained in every part of the Word. In every part of the 
"Word there is an internal sense, in which natural and worldly 

* Tlie consummation of tTie age, is the true rendering from the original Greek, and 
not tJie end of the world, as in the common t/anslation ; the word Akuv never properly 
Bignifving the world, but an age or period of time, or a dispensation of things. — H. 

(*) That the consummation of the age is the last time of the church, nn. 4535, 10,622. 

(*) The particulars which the Lord predicted in Matthew, Chs, xxiv. and xxv., 
resneciing the consummation of the age and his advent, thus respecting the succes- 
'iive devastation of the church and the last juagmeiii, are explained in the introJiictuiy 
articles to several of the chapters ot ^"inesis, viz., from Ch. xxvi. to Ch. xl. ; nn. 83" 3, 
3354:, 3355, 3486—3488. 3650—3655, 3751-3757, 3897— b901, 4056—4060, 42-29— 42 1. 
4332—4335, 4422-^t424, 4635— 463S, 4661—4664, 4807-4.810, 4954-4959, 5063—507.* ' 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 

fcbings, sucli as are mentioned in the literal sense, are not treatcc 
of, but spiritual and celestial things. This is the case not oaly 
with respect to the sense of several words taken together, but 
even with respect to every single expression ; (^) for the Word is 
written by pure correspondences,(*) in order that an internal 
sense may be contained in every part of it. The nature of that 
sense may be manifest from the particulars which are stated and 
shown concerning it in the Arcana Coelestla. ; which may also 
be seen collected together in the little work on the White Horse 
mentioned in the Kevelation. The words which the Lord spoke, 
in the place quoted above, concerning his advent in the clouds 
of heaven, are to be understood, according to that sense, thus : 
By the sun there mentioned, which would be darkened, is sig- 
nified the Lord with respect to love ;(^) by the moon, the Lord 
with respect to faith ; C) by the stars, the knowledges of good 
and truth, or of love and faith ; (') by the sign of the Son of man 
in heaven, the manifestation of Divine Truth ; by the tribes of 
the earth, which would mourn, all things relating to truth and 
good, or to faith and love; (') by the »'».oming of the Lord in the 
clouds of heaven with power and glory, his presence in the 
Word, and revelation of its true import ; (^) by clouds is signified 
the literal sense of the Word, (^'^) and by glory, its internal 
sense ; (") by the angels with a great sound of a trumpet, is sig- 
nified heaven, whence it is that the revelation of divine truth is 
made. Q^) Hence it may appear, that by these words of the 
Lord is meant, that at the end of the church, when there no 
longer remains any love, and thence not any faith, the Lord 
will open the Word as to its internal sense, and will reveal 
arcana of heaven. 

(^) That there is an internal or spiritual sense in all the particulars of the Word, 
even to the most minute, nn. 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 4442, 9048, 9063, 9086. 

(*) That the Word is written by pure correspondences, and that thence all the par- 
ticulars contained in it, even to "the most minute, signify spiritual things, un. 1404, 
1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 2900, 9086. 

(5) That the sun, when mentioned in the Word, signifies the Lord with respect to 
love, and thence love to the Lord, nn. 1529, 1837, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, (4996,)* 
7083, 10,809. 

(*) That the moon, when mentioned in the "Word, signifies the Lord with respect to 
faith, and thence faith in the Lord, nn. 1529, 1530, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083. 

(') That the stars, when mentioned in the Word, signify the knowledges of good 
and truth, nn. 2495, 2849, 4697. 

(8) That the tribes signify all truths and goods in the complex, thus all things of 
faith and love, nn. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335. 

( *) That the advent of the Lord is His presence in the Word, and revelation, nn. 
3900, 4060. 

( 0) That clouds, when mentioned in the Word, signifv the Word in the letter, or 
its literal sense, nn. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752. 8106, 8781, 9430, 10,551, 10,574. 

( I) That glory, when mentioned in the Word, signifies the Divine Truth such as it 
is in heaven, and such as it ia in the internal sense of the Word, nn. 4809, (5292,) 
6922, 8267, 8427, 9429, 10,574. 

( ^) That a trumpet or horn, when mentioned in the Word, signifies Divine Truth 
in heaven, and revealed from heaven, nn. 8815, 8823, 8915. And a voice likewise, uu. 
6971, 9926. 

* Respecting the above erroneous number, being the first that occurs (in rote (5) ) it may 
be observed, that it most probably has originated from the preceding correct number, 4696, 
and ought to be omitted altogether. ThQ case is similar in other instances.— JV. 



HEAVT:N ANTt HELL. 

Tlie arcaiu *vhictj are leveaied ii; tne ibiiowinir paires are sncti 
as relate to •ief^vw^ auci tjei.. and to tLo iile ui maii after deatn. 
The members of the church at this day know scarcely any thing 
concerning heaven and hell, nor yet concerning their own life 
after death, although these things are all described in the Word ; 
nay, many, though born within the church, even deny their 
existence, saying in their heart, Who has come from thence and 
declai-ed the fact? Lest, therefore, such a negative state, which 
chiefly prevails among those who possess much worldly wisdom, 
should also infect and corrupt the simple in heart and faith, it 
has been granted me to be admitted into the society of angels, 
and to converse with them as one man converses with another ; 
and also to see the things that exist in heaven and those that 
exist in hell. I have enjoyed this privilege for the space of 
thirteen years : and I am now permitted to describe the heavens 
and the hells from the testimony of my own sight and hearing ; 
in the hope that ignorance may thus be enlightened, and incre- 
dulity dissipated. The reason that such an immediate revela- 
tion is made at this day, is, because this is what is meant by 
the coining of the Lo xl. 

a 



OF HEAVEN. 



THAT THE LORD IS THE GOD OF HEAVtN 

9, The firat thing necessary to be known is, who is the God 
of heaven ; for every thing else depends on this. In the uni- 
versal heaven, no other is acknowledged for its God, but the 
Lord Alone : they say there, as He Himself taught, that He is 
One with the Father 'y that the Father is in Him^ and He;, in 
tJie Father^ that whosoever seeth Him^ seeth the Father ', and 
that every thing holy proceeds from Hiwu — John x. 30, 38 ; 
xiv. to, 11 ; xvi. 13, 14, 15. I have often conversed with the 
angeis on this subject, and they constantly declared, that they 
are unable to divide the Divine Being into three, because they 
know and perceive that the Divine Being is One, and that he 
is One in the Lord. They said, also, that persons belonging to 
the church who arrive there from the world, having an idea of 
three Divine Beings, cannot be admitted into heaven, because 
their thought wanders from one to another, and it is not allowed 
there to have three in the thoughts and profess one with the 
lips. (^) Every one in heaven speaks from his thought, speech 
there being the utterance of thought, or thought speaking : 
wherefore they who in the world had divided the Divine Being 
into three, and have acquired a separate idea concerning each, 
and have not concentrated and made it one in the Lord, cannot 
be admitted. In heaven there is a communication of the 
thoughts of all, wherefore if any one should come there who has 
three in his thoyghts while he professes one with his lips, he 
would be immediately discovered and rejected. But it is to be 
observed, that all those who have not separated truth from good, 
or faith from love, on being instructed in the other life, receive 
the heavenly idea concerning the Lord, namely, that He is the 
God of the universe : but it is otherwise with those who have 
separated faith from life, that is, who have not lived according 
to the precepts of a true faith. 

3. Those within the church who have denied the Lord, and 

(1) That certain Christians were explored in the other life, as to what idea they had 
of the Cue God, when it was found that they had an idea of three Gods, nn. 2329, 
5256, 10,736, 10,738, 10,821. That the Divine Trinity in the Lord ia acknowledged iu 
heaven, nn. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 5256, 9303. 

4 



ii 



HEAVEN. 4, 5 

have acknowledged the Father alone, and have confirmed them- 
selves in such a faith, are out of heaven ; and as no influx from 
heaven, where the Lord Alone is worshipped, can be received 
by them, they are deprived by degrees of the faculty of think- 
ing truth on any subject whatever, and at length they either be- 
come like dumb persons, or they talk foolishly, and wander in 
and out as they walk, with their arms dangling as if void of 
strength in the joints. They who have denied the divinity of 
the Lord, and have only acknowledged his humanity, like the 
Socinians, are likewise out of heaven, and are borne forwards a 
little towards the right, ^•' where they are let down into a deep 
place, and thus are entirely separated from the rest of those that 
come from the Christian world. But it was found that those 
who profess to believe in an invisible Divinity, which they call 
the E)is Universi,-\ from which all things existed, and who re- 
ject all faith concerning the Lord, believe in no God ; because 
this invisible Divinity is, according to them, like nature in its 
first principles, which cannot be an object of faith ard love, 
since no idea can be formed of it : (^) such persons have their lot 
among those who are called Naturalists. It is different with 
those who are born without the church, and are called gentiLs, 
who will be treated of in the following pages. 

4. All infants, of whom a third part of heaven consists, are 
initiated into the acknowledgment and faith, that the Lord is 
their Father : and afterwards, that He is the Lord of all, and 
consequent the God of heaven and earth. That infants grow 
up in the heavens, and are perfected by means of knowledges 
even to angelic intelligence and wisdom, will be seen in tlie 
following pages. 

5. That the Lord is the God of heaven, cannot be doubted by 
those who belons; to the church : for he himself taught that all 
things of the Father are His (Matt. xi. 27 ; John xvi. 15 ; 
xvii. 2), and that He hath all power in heaven and in earth 
(Matt, xxviii. 16). He says, " in heaven and in earth," because 
He that governs heaven governs the earth also, for the one de- 
pends on the other. (3) To govern heaven and earth, signifies, 

* The place of the spirits in the other world, as also their ascent into heaven, or descent 
into hell, is constantly described by the author in reference to the body of the specta- 
tor : and the meaning of this passage is, that the spirits here mentioned appear to 
sink down in front, a little towards the right, into the particular place appointed for 
them. This will be better comprehended when the reader understands what is said 
in the following pages, respecting <Ae Quarters in. Heaven, nn. 141, &c. — H. 

\ Literally, the Beinff of the Universe; but this not being in use among English 
writats, the original term, employed in Latin philosophic il writings, is retained. — V. 




heavens and on earth belongs to Him, nn. 1607, 10,089, 10,827. That as tlie Lord 
governs heaven, He also governs all things wl)ich depend thereon, thus all tilings in 
the world, nn. 2026, 2027, 4523, 4524. That the Lord alone has the power of removinsr 
the hells from man, of withholding i.im from evils, of keeping him in good, thus of 
saving him, n. 10,019. 

5 



6 8 HEAVEN. 

to receive from Him all the good wliicli is the object of love, 
and dll the truth which is the object of faith, thus all intelli- 
gence and wisdom, and thereby all happiness ; in short, eter- 
nal life. This the Lord also taught when he said, '•''lie that he- 
lieveth on the Son. hath everlasting life / and he that helieveth 
not the Son^ shall not see life''' (John iii. 36). Again : ^'"I ara 
the resurrection and the life : he that helieveth in me^ though he 
were dead^ yet shall he live', and whosoever liveth and helieveth 
in me^ shall never die'"' (John xi. 25, 26). And again : ^''I am 
the way^ the truth^ and the life^^ (John xiv. 6). 

6. There were certain spirits, who, when they lived in the 
'world, professed to believe in the Father, but had no other idea 
of the Lord than as of a n^on^ man, whence they did not believe 
]iim to be the God of heaven : wherefore it was permitted them 
to ramble about, and inquire wherever they pleased, whether 
there were any other heaven than that which belongs to the 
Lord. They continued their search for some days, but Ibujid 
none. They belonged to that class of persons who make the 
happiness of heaven to consist in pomp and dominion ; and be- 
cause they could not obtain their desire, and were informed that 
heaven does not consist in such things, they were angry, and 
would have a heaven in which they might domineer over others, 
and excel others in magnificence, after the fashion of this world. 



THAT THE DIVHSTE SPHERE OF THE LORD CONSTITUTES HEAVEN. 

T. The angels, taken collectively, are called heaven, because 
they compose it : but still it is the Divine Sphere proceeding 
from the Lord, which enters the angels by influx, and is by 
them received, which essentially constitutes it, both in general 
and in particular. The Divine Sphere proceeding from the 
Lord, is the good of love, and the truth of faith : in proportion, 
therefore, as the angels receive good and truth from the Lord, 
so far they are angels, and so far they are heaven. 

8. Every one in the heavens knows and believes, yea, feels by 
interior perception, that he can neither will nor do any thmg of 
good, nor think and believe any thing of truth, from himself, 
but only from the Divine Being, thus from the Lord ; and that 
the good and truth which are from himself, are not really such, 
because there is no life within them from a Divine Source. 
The angels of the inmost heaven, also, have a clear perception 
and sensation of the influx ; and so far as they receive it, so far 
they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because they are so 
far in love and in faith, and so far in the light of intelligence 
and wisdom, and thence in heavenly joy. As all these things 
proceed from, the Divine Sphere which emanates from the Lord 



HEAVEN. 8, 9 



and it is in these tliat heaven, as enjoyed by the angels, consists, 
it is evident that the Divine Sphere of the Lord constitutes 
heaven, and that it is not constituted by the angels by virtue ot 
any thing proper to themselves. (^) It is on this account that 
heaven is called, in the Word, the Lord's habitation, or dwelling- 
place, and his throne ; and that its inhabitants are said to be in 
the Lord.C'^) But in what manner the Divine Sphere proceeds 
from the Lord, and fills heaven, will be shown in the following 
pages. 

9. The angels, by virtue of their wisdom, go still further 
They not only say that all o-ood and truth are from the Lord, 
but also, that the all of life is from the Lord. This they confirm 
by the consideratiou, that nothing can exist from itself, but only 
from something prior to itself ; consequently, that all things 
exist from a First Cause, which they call the Very Esse'''-' of the 
life of all things ; and that they subsist in a similar manner, 
because subsistence is per23etual existence ; wherefore, whatever 
is not kept in connection with the First Cause by intermediate 
links, instantly falls away, and is utterly dissipated. They say, 
also, that there is only One Fountain of life, and that the lite 
of man is a stream flowing from it, which, if it were not con- 
tinually supplied from irs fountain, would instantly flow away. 
They say, moreover, that nothing proceeds from that One Foun- 
tain of life, which is the Lord, but divine good and divine truth, 
and that these affect every one accoi'ding to his reception of 
them ; tliat those who receive them in f dth and life, have in 
them heaven ; but that those who reject or suffocate them, turn 
them into hell, because they turn good into evil, and truth into 
falsity ; thus life into death. That the all of life is from the 
Lord, they also confirm by this consideration : That all things 
in the universe have relation to good and truth, the life of man's 
will, which is the life of his love, having relation to good, and 
the life of man's understanding, which is the life of his faith, 
having relation to truth ; wherefore, since all good and truth 
come from above, it follows that the all of life comes from above 
too. As this is the belief of the angels, they reject all return of 
thanks on account of the good which they do, and are displeased, 

(1 ) That the anciiels of heaven acknowledaie all good to be from the Lord, and nothing* 
of it from themselves; and that the Lord dvv^ells with them in what is His Own, and 
n^t in an}' tluntr proper to themselves, nn. 9338, 10,125, 10,151, 10,157. That there- 
fore liv angels, when mentioned in the Word, is understood something of the Lord, nn. 
3925, '2821, 3039, 4085, 1292, 10,528. And that therefore the angels are called gods 
from their reception of the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord, nn. 4295. 4402, 
72G8, 7873, 8301, 8192 Tiia*- all good which is good, and all truth which is truth, con- 
sequentlv all peace, love, charitv, and faith, are also from the Lord. nn. 1614, 2016, 
2751, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2892, 2904\ And likewise all wisdom and intelligence, nn. 109. 
112, 121, 124. 

(2) That those who are in heaven are said to be in the Lord, nn, 3637, 3638. 

* Esse is a Latin word thit literally signifies to be, whence it is used b}^ philosopher? 
to express the vei}'^ ground of the existence of the thing of which they are treat- 
ing.-N. ^ 



10 — 13 HEAVEN. 

and -withdraw themselves, if any one attributes good to them, 
as the authors of it. They wonder how any one can believe that 
he possesses wisdom, or does good, from himself. Good done 
for the sake of self, they do not call good at all, because it is 
done from self ; but good done for its own sake, they call good 
from the Divine Source, and affirm that this good is what con- 
stitutes heaven, because such good is the Lord. Q) 

10. Spirits, who, when they lived in the world had confirmed 
themselves in the belief, that the good which they do, and the 
truth which they believe, are from themselves, or are appro- 
priated to them as their own, (which belief is entertained by all 
who place merit in their good deeds and arrogate righteousness 
to themselves,) are not received into heaven. The angels avoid 
them, regarding them as fools or as thieves ; as fools, because 
they continually look to themselves and not to the Divine Being ; 
and as thieves, because they rob the Lord of what is His. Such 
persons are opposed to the faith of heaven, namely, that the 
Divine Sphere of the Lord, received by the angels, constitutes 
heaven. 

11. That the inhabitants of heaven, and the members of the 
church, are in the Lord, and the Lord in them, he also teaches, 
saying, ^' Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot 
bearf'^uit of itself ^ except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye^ 
except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches ; he 
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much 
fruit. For without me., ye can do nothing " (John xv. 4, 5). 

12. From these considerations it may now be evident, that 
the Lord dwells with the angels of heaven in what is His Own, 
and thus that the Lord is the All in all of heaven. The reason 
of this is, because good from the Lord is the Lord with those 
who receive it ; for whatever is from him, is himself. Conse- 
quently, good' from the Lord is heaven to the angels, and not 
any thing proper to themselves. 



THAT THE DIVINE SPHEEE OF THE LOKD EST HEAVEN IS LOVE 
TO HIM AND CHAEITY TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOK. 

13. The Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord is called in 
heaven Divine Truth, f )r a reason that will appear in what 
follows. This Divine Truth flows into heaven from the Lord 
out of His Divine Love. Divine Love, and Divine Truth thence 
derived, are, comparatively, like the fire of the sun, and the 
light thence proceeding in the world ; love being like the fire 
of the sun, and truth thence derived like light from the sun. 

(•) That Kood from the Lord has the Lord inwardlv in it, but not good from jjro- 
priuffi. nn. 1802, 3951, 8480. 



HEAVEN. 14, 15 



Fire also signifies love, from correspondence ; and liglit signifies 
the truth thence proceeding.^ Hence may appear what is the 
quality of the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine 
Love; namely, that, in its essence, it is Divine Good in con- 
iunction with Divine Truth ; and by virtue of this conjunction 
it imparts life to all things of heaven, as the heat of the sun in 
the world, in conjunction with its light, renders fruitful all the 
productions of the earth ; as is experienced in the season of 
spring and summer. It is otherwise when heat is not conjoined 
with the light, thus when the light is cold ; for then all things 
become torpid and lie dead. This Divine Good, which -s com- 
pared to heat, is, when received by the angels, the good of love ; 
and the Divine Truth, which is compared to light, is that, 
by and from which the good of love is communicated to 
them. 

14. The reason that the Divine Sphere in heaven, which con- 
stitutes it heaven, is love, is, because love is spiritual conjunc- 
tion. It conjoins the angels with the Lord, and it conjoins 
them mutually with each other ; and this it effects in such a 
manner, that they all, in the sight of the Lord, form a one. 
Moreover, love is the very esse of every one's life ; w^herefore 
both angels and men derive their life from it. That the inmost 
vital principle of man is derived from love, every one may 
know who considers the subject ; for at its presence he grows 
warm, at its absence he grows cold, and on the privation of it 
he dies.(^) But it is to be observed, that the quality of the life 
of every one is the same as that of his love. 

15. There are in heaven two distinct kinds of love — love to 
the Lord, and love towards the neighbor. The love that pre- 
vails in the inmost or third heaven, is love to the Lord ; and 
that which reigns in the second or middle heaven, is love 
towards the neighbor. Each proceeds from the Lord, and each 
constitutes heaven. How these two kinds of love are distin- 
guished from each other, and how they are conjoined together, 
appears, in heaven, in the clearest light ; but can only be seen 
obscurely in the world. In heaven, by loving the Lord, is not 
understood to love him as to his person, but to love the good 
which proceeds from him ; and to love good, is to will and do 
good from love. So, by loving their neighbor, they do not 
understand the love of their companions as to their person, but 
to love the truth which is from the Word ; and to love truth is 
to will and do truth. It hence is evident, that these two kinds 

(*) That fire, when mentioned in the Word, signifies love both in a good and a bad 
sense, n?i. 934, 4906, 5215. That sacred and heavenly fire signifies divine love, and 
©very afl'ection which belongs to that love, nn. 934, 6314, 6882. That the light thence 




6071, 0032, 6314 



lb, 17 HEAVEN. 

of love are distinguislied from each otlier as good and trutli are, 
and that they are conjoined togetlier as good is conjoined with 
truth. (^) But he who does not know what love is, what good 
is, and what the neighbor is, can with difiSculty form an idea 
on these subject8.('*) 

16. I have sometimes conversed on this subject with the 
angels, who expressed their wonder that men belonging to the 
church should not be aware, that to love the Lord and to love 
the neighbor, is to love good and truth, and to do them from 
inclination ; when yet they might know that every one testifies 
his love for another, by willing and doing what is agreeable to 
the will of the other ; in consequence of which he is loved by 
tlie other in return, and conjunction with him is effected ; which 
does not ensue on loving the other without doing what is agree- 
able to his will, since this, regarded in itself, is not loving him : 
and when they also might know, that the good proceeding from 
the Lord is his likeness, because He is in it, and that those 
become likenesses of Him, and attain conjunction with Him, 
who make good and truth the principles of their life, by willing 
and doing them. To will, also, is, to love to do. This the Lord 
likewise teaches, saying, ''''He tliat liatli my conrbniandrnents^ 
and heepeth tliem^ lie it is that loveth me / — and I will love Jiim^ 
and will inanifest myself unto Jiim?^ (John xiv. 21). And in 
another place : ^'' If ye Iteejp my commandments^ ye shall abide 
in tny love^^ (John xv. 10). 

17. That the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord, which 
affects the angels and constitutes heaven, is love, all experience 
in heaven testifies : for all there are forms of love and charity 
They appear of ineffable beauty ; and love beams forth from 
their face, from their speech, and from every particular of their 
life.(^) Moreover, from every angel and spirit proceed spiritual 
spheres of life, which are circumfused around them, and by 
means of which their quality, as to the afiections which belong 
to their love, is sometimes perceived at a considerable distance. 
For those spheres flow from the life of the affection, and thence 
of the thought, of every one ; or from the life of his love and 
thence of his faith : and the sj)heres proceeding from the angels 
are so full of love, that they affect the inmost grounds of the 
life of those in their company : they have sometimes been per- 



(') That to love the Lord and our neighbor is to live according to the Lord's pre- 
cepts, nu. 10,143, 10,153, 10,310, 10,578, 10,648. 

(*) That to love the neighbor is not to love his person, but to love that in him by 
which he is constituted a neighbor, thus truth and good, nn. 5028, 10,386. That those 
who love the person, and not that in him by which he is constituted a neighbor, lovo 
evil as well as good, n. 3820. That charity consists in willing truths, and beiug 
affected by truths, for their own sake, nn. 8876, 3877. That charity towards oui 
neighbor consists in doing what is good, just, and right, in every work and in every 
office, nn. 8120, 8121, 8122. 

(*) That the angels are forms of love and charity, nn. 3804, 4785, 4797, 4986, 51M, 
6580, 9879, 10,177. 

10 



HEAVEN. 17, 18 

ceived by me, when they affected me in this manner.(^ Tliut 
love is the principle from which the life of the angels is clenved, 
is also evident from hence, that every one in the other life turns 
himself in a direction agreeing with his love ; those who are 
principled in love to the Lord, and in love towards their neigh- 
bor, turn themselves constantly to the Lord ; but those who are 
principled in the love of self constantly turn themselves away 
from the Lord. This continues to be the case in every motion 
of their bodies : for spaces, in the other life, depend on the state 
of the interiors of those who dwell there, as do the quarters 
likewise, which are not fixed there, as they are in the world, 
but are determined according to the aspect of the faces of the 
inhabitants. It is not, however, the angels who turn themselves 
to the Lord, but it is the Lord who turns all those to himself 
who love to do those things that are from him.(') More will be 
said on these subjects in the following pages, when the Quarters 
in the other life are treated of. 

18. The reason that the Divine Sphere of the Lord in heaven 
is love, is, because love is the receptacle of all the constituents 
of heaven, which are peace, intelligence, wisdom, and happi- 
ness. For love receives all things whatever that are congenial 
to itself; it desires them, it seeks for them, and it imbibes them 
as it were spontaneously ; for it is continually desirous of being 
enriched and perfected by them.(^) This is also known to man : 
for in him, love inspects as it were the stores of his memory, 
and calls forth thence such of its contents as agree with itself: 
these it collects together and arranges in and under itself, — in 
itself that they may be its own, and under itself that they may 
be ready for its service : but whatever does not agree with itself, 
it rejects and exterminates. That every faculty for receiving 
the truths congenial to it, and the desire of conjoining them to 
itself, are inherent in love, clearly appears, also, from those 
who are raised to heaven ; all of w^hom, though they may have 
been simple persons when they lived in the world, nevertheless, 
on coming among the angels, enter fully into their angelic wis- 
dom, and the felicities of heaven : the reason is, because they 
had loved good and truth for their own sake, and had implanted 
them in their life, and thereby acquired the faculty of receiving 
heaven, with all its ineffable perfections. But those who are 
immersed in the love of self and of the world possess no faculty 

(') That a spiritual spliere, which is the sphere of his life, flows and exudes from 
every man, spirit, and angel, and spreads around him, nn. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630. 
That it flows from the life of his aff'ectiou and thence of his thought, nn. 2'iS9, 4464 
6206. 

C) That spirits and angels turn themselves constantly to their loves, and that those 
in heaven turn themselves constantly to the Lord, nn. 10,130, 10,189, 1C,420, 10,702. 
That the quarters in the other life depend with every one on the aspect of his face, 
and are thence determined, differently from what takes place in the world, nn. 10,130, 
10,189, 10,420, 10,702. 

(*) Tliat iuimmerable things are inherent in love, and t'aat love receives to itself all 
things that agree with it, nn. 2500, 2572, 307S, 3189, 6323, 7490, 7750. 



19—21 HEAVEN. 

of receiving sucli gifts : they feel aversion for them, they reject 
them, they flee away at their first touch and influx, and asso- 
ciate themselves with those in hell who are immersed in the 
same kinds of love as themselves. There were certain spirits 
who doubted whether such faculties were inherent in heavenly 
love, and desired to know the truth ; wherefore, the obstacles 
in themselves being for a time removed, they were let into a 
state of heavenly love, and borne forward to some distance 
where there was an angelic heaven ; whence they conversed 
with me, saying, that they had a perception of interior happi- 
ness which they were unable to express by words, and grieving 
exceedingly that they must return into their former state. Some 
others, also, were taken up into heaven, and in j)roportion as 
their elevation became more interior and exalted, they entered 
into such intelligence and wisdom, as to be capable of seeing 
things with clear perception which before they were unable to 
comprehend at all. Hence it is manifest, that love proceeding 
from the Lord is the receptacle of heaven and of all its per- 
fections. 

19. That love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor 
comprehend in themselves all divine truths, may appear from 
what the Lord declared concerning them, when he said, " Thou 
sJialt love the Lord thy God with all thy hearty and with all thy 
soul^ and with all thy rrvind. This is. the first a/tid great com- 
mandment. And the second is lihe unto it : Thou shalt love 
thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all 
the law OMd the projphets''^ (Matt. xxii. 37 — 40). The law and 
the prophets are the whole Word, thus all Divine Truth. 



THAT HEAVEN IS DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS. 

20. As in heaven there are infinite varieties, and no society 
is exactly like another, nor indeed any angel,(^) therefore 
heaven is divided in a general, in a specific, and in a particular 
manner. It is divided, in general, into two kingdoms, specif- 
ically, into three heavens, and in particular, into innumerable 
societies. Each division shall be treated of distinctly. 

The general divisions are styled hingdoms^ because heaven is 
called the Mngdo^n of God. 

21. There are angels who receive the Divine Sphere proceed- 
ing from the Lord more and less interiorly. They who receive 

(}) That \ ariety is infinite, and that one thing is never the same as another, nn. 
7236, 9002. That in the heavens, also, there is infinite variety, nn. 684, 690, 8744, 
6598, 7236. That varieties in the heavens are varieties of good, nn. 3744, 4005, 7236, 
7833, 7836, 9002. That thereby all the societies of heaven, and all the angels in each 
Bociety, are distinguished from each other, nn. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4f67, sl49, 
4263, 7236, 7833, 7836. But that they all, nevertheless, make a one,' by meaub of love 
from the Lord, nn. 457, 8986. 

12 



HEAVEN. 22 — 25 

it more hi teriorly are called celestial angels; but the j who re- 
ceive it less interiorly are called spiritual angels. Hence 
heaven is divided into two kingdoms ; one of which is called the 
Celestial Kingdom, and the other, the Spiritual Kingdom.(^) 

22. The angels who constitute the celestial kingdom, because 
they receive the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord more 
interiorly, are called interior, and also, superior angels ; and 
thence, also, the heavens w^hich they constitute are called inte- 
rior and superior heavens.(^') They are styled superior and iti^ 
ferior^ because things interior and exterior^ respectively, are so 
called.(^) 

23. The love in which those who dwell in the celestial king- 
dom are principled, is called celestial love ; and the love in 
which those who dwell in the spiritual kingdom are principled, 
is called spiritual love. Celestial love is love to the Lord, and 
spiritual love is charity towards the neighbor. And as all good 
has relation to love, since whatever any one loves he deems 
good, therefore, also, the good of one kingdom is called celestial 
good, and that of the other, spiritual good. Hence it is evident 
in what respect those two kingdoms are distinguished from each 
other, namely, that the distinction between them is like that 
between the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity 
towards the neighbor :(^) and as the former good is interior 
good, and that love is interior love, therefore the celestial angels 
are interior angels, and are called superior. 

2tl:. The celestial kingdom is also called the Sacerdotal King- 
dom of the Lord, and, in the Word, His dwelling-place or habi- 
tation ; and the spiritual kingdom is called His Kegal Kingdom, 
and, in the Word, His Throne. It is, also, from His Divine 
Celestial Principle, that the Lord, in the world, was called 
Jesus ; and it is by virtue of His Divine Spiritual Principle, 
that He was called Christ. 

25. The angels in the Lord's celestial kingdom far excel the 
angels of His spiritual kingdom in wisdom and glory, by reason 
that they more interiorly receive the Lord's Divine Sphere : for 
they are grounded in love to Him, and thence they are nearer 
to Him, and in closer conjunction with Him.(^) The reason 

C*) That the whole heaven is distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial king- 
dom, and the spiritual kingdom, nn. 3887, 4138. That the angels of the celestial king- 
dom receive the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord in the will part, thus more 
interiorly than the spiritual angels, who receive it in the intellectual part, nn. 5113, 
6367, 8521, 9936, 9995, 10,124. 

(^) That the heavens which constitute the celestial kingdom are styled superior 
heavens, but those which constitute the spiritual kingdom, inferior heavens, n. 10,068. 

C) That what is interior is expressed by what is superior, and that what is superior 
signifies what is interior, nn. 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325. 

(*) That the good of the celestial kingdom is the good of love to the Lord, and that 
the good of the spiritual kingdom is tlie good of charity towards the neighbor, nn. 
8691, 6435, 946b, 9680, 9683, 9780. 

(") That the celestial angels immensely excel the spiritual angels in wisdom, hn. 
1718, 9995. What is the ditference between the celestial and the spiritual angels, nn. 
2088 2669 2708, 2715, 3235, 324;'>, 4788, 7068, 8521, 9277, 10,295. 



25, 26 HEAVEN. 

tuat these angels are of sucli a quality, is, because thej had 
received, when in the world, and continue to receive still, divine 
truths immediatelj in the life, and do not, like the spiritual, 
first deposit them in the memory and the thought. From this 
cause, they have them inscribed on their hearts : they have a 
perception of their reality, and, as it were, see them in them- 
selves : nor do they ever reason about them, to ascertain whether 
the truth be so or not.(') They are such as are described in 
Jeremiah : "Z will put my law in their inward parts ^ and 
write it in their hearts. — They shall teach no more every maji 
his neighbor^ and every man his Ijvother^ saying.^ Know ye Je- 
hovah', for they shall all Icnow me^from the least of them unto 
the greatest of them,., saith Jehovah^'' (ch. xxxi. 33, 34). And 
they are called in Isaiah, The " taught of JehovaN^ (ch. liv. 13). 
That the taught of Jehovah are they who are taught of the Lord, 
the Lord himself teaches in John (vi. 45). 

26. It was observed, that the celestial angels excel the others 
in wisdom and glory, because they had received, when in the 
world, and continue to receive still, divine truths immediately 
in the life : for as soon as they hear them, they will and do 
them, and do not first deposit them in the memory, and after- 
wards think whether they be true or not. They who are of such 
a quality, know immediately, by an influx from the Lord, 
whether what they hear be true or not : for the Lord enters by 
influx into man's faculty of willing immediately, and mediately, 
through that, into his faculty of thinking ; or, what is the same, 
the Lord enters by influx into good immediately, and mediately, 
through good, into truth :(^) for that is called good which has 
its abode in the will, and thence proceeds into act ; and that is 
called truth which has its seat in the memory, and is thence 
made an object of the thought. All truth, also, is turned into 
good, and is implanted in the love, as soon as it enters the will ; 
but so long as it is in the memory, and thence in the thought, 
it does not become good, nor has it life, nor is it appropriated 
to the man ; for nian is man by virtue of his will, and of his 
understanding as thence exercised, and not by virtue of his 
understanding in separation from his will.(^) 

Q) That the celestial angels do not reason concerning the truths of faith, because 
they have a perception of them in themselves, but that the spiritual angeih reason 
concerning them, to ascertain whether a thing be so or not, nn. 202, 337, 597, 607, 784, 
1121, 1384, (1398,) 1919, 8246, 4448, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10,786. 

(^) That there is an influx of the Lord into good, and through good into truth, and 
not 'vice versa ; thus into the will, and through that into the understanding, and not 
vice versa, nn. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10,153. 

('•') That the will of man is the very esse of his life, and is the receptacle of the good 
of love ; and that his understanding is his existere of Hfe thence derived, and is the 
receptacle of the truth and good of faith, nn. 3619, 5002, 9282. Thus that the life of 
his will is the principal life of man, and that the life of his understanding proceeds 
from it, nn. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10,076, 10,109, 10,110. That those things 
which are received in the will, become principles of the life, and are appropiated to 
man, nn. 3161, 9386, 9398. That man is man by virtue of his will, and thence by vir- 

14 



HEAVEX. 27—30 

27. As there is sucli a difference between the angels of the 
celestial kingdom and those of the spiritual kingdom, they do 
not dwell together, nor have they any mutual intercourse. 
There is only a communication between them by means of in- 
termediate angelic societies, called celestial-spiritual ; through 
which the celestial kingdom enters b}^ influx into the spir- 
ituaL(^'^) It is owing to this influx, that although heaven is 
divided into two kingdoms, still it forms a one. The Lord 
always provides such intermediate angels, by means of whom 
communication and conjunction are effected. 

28. As the ans-els of both these kinojdoms are much treated 
of in the following pages, it is unnecessary to state any further 
particulars here. 



THAT THERE ARE THREE HEAYENS. 

29. There are three heavens, which are perfectly distinct 
from each other ; namely, the Inmost or Third Heaven, the 
Middle or Second Heaven, and the Ultimate or First. They 
follow each other in order, and are mutually related, like the 
highest part of man, which is called the head, his middle part, 
which is called the body, and his lowest part, which is the feet ; 
and like the highest, the middle, and the lowest stories of a 
house. The Divine Sphere which proceeds and descends from 
the Lord, is also in the same order ; and hence, from its neces- 
sary conformity to order, heaven is disposed according to a 
threefold arrangement. 

30. The interiors of man, belonging to his internal and ex- 
ternal minds,* are also in similar order : he has an inmost, a 
middle, and an ultimate. For when man was created, all the 
principles of Divine Order were collated into him, so that he 
was made Divine Order in form, and thence a heaven in minia- 

tue of his understanding, nn. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10,076, 10,109, 10,110. That also, every 
man whose will and understanding are good, is loved and esteemed by others ; while 
he whose will and understanding are not good, is rejected and despised, nn. (8911,) 
(10,076.) That man also continues after death such as his will is and his understand- 
ing thence, and that those things which are entertained by his understanding and not 
at the same time by his will, then vanish, because they are not in the man, nn. 9069, 
9071, 92S2, 9336, '.0",153. 

(^'') That there is communication and conjunction between the two heavens, by 
means of angelic societies wliich are culled celestial-spiritual, nn. 4047, 6485, 8787, 
8802. Of the influx of the Lord through the celestial kingdom into the spiritual, nn. 
3969, 6366. 

* Our Author frequently uses two Latin words together {mens and animus) to de- 
note the mind, meaning by the former the intellectual or rational mind, which is re- 
spectively internal, and by the latter the natural or animal mind, which is respectively 
external. The distinction is common with the philosophers, and is indicated in the 
Apoatolic writings by the distinct terms pneunui aud psyche. This explanation Buonld 
be remembered wherever the words " internal and external minds" occur in the fol- 
lowing pages. — a. 

15 



31 — 33 HEAVEN. 

tiire.(^) Thus also man, with respect to his interiors, has commu- 
nication with the heavens, and also rises to the angelic abodes 
after death ; entering into the society of the angels of the in- 
most, second, or ultimate heaven, according to his reception of 
divine good and truth from the Lord during his life in the world. 

31. The Divine Sphere which enters by influx from the Lord, 
and is received in the third or inmost heaven, is called the 
Divine Celestial Bjpliere / whence the angels there are called 
celestial angels j and the Divine Sphere which enters by influx 
from the Lord, and is received, in the second or middle heaven, 
is called the Divine Spiritual Sjphere^ whence the angels there 
are called spiritual angels: but the Divine Sphere which enteis 
by influx from the Lord, and is received, in the ultimate or first 
heaven, is called the Divine Natural Sphere. As, however, the 
natural sphere of that heaven is not like the natural sphere in 
which this world exists, but has the spiritual and celestial 
spheres within it, that heaven is called spiritual-and-celestial- 
natural ^ whence the angels there are called spiritual-and-celes- 
tial-natural angels :{^) those are styled spirituaPnaticral who 
receive their influx out of the middle or second heaven, which 
is the spiritual heaven ; and those are styled celestiaPnatural 
who receive their influx out of the third or inmost heaven, 
which is the celestial heaven. The spiritual-and-celestial-natu- 
ral angels dwell apart fi*om each other, but still they consti- 
tute but one heaven, because they are in the same degree. 

32. In every heaven there is an Internal and an External ; 
and those who are in the internal are called there internal 
angels, but those who are in the external are called external 
angels. The internal and the external in the heavens, and in 
every heaven, are like the will-faculty, and its intellectual fac- 
ulty, appertaining to man, the internal being like the will- 
faculty, and the external like its intellectual faculty. Every 
species of will-faculty has its own intellectual faculty, the one 
not existing without the other ; the will-faculty being compara- 
tively like a flame, and its intellectual faculty like the light 
proceeding from it. 

33. It is carefully to be noted, that the interiors of the angels 

(*) That all the principles of Divine Order are collated into man, and that man. from 
creation, is Divine Order in a form, nn. 4210, 4222, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, (5368,) 
6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10,156, 10,472. That, with man, his internal man is 
Ibrmed after the image of heaven, and his external after the image of the world, and 
that, therefore, man was called bv the ancients a microcosm, or little world, nn. 4523, 
5368, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9706, 10,lo6, 10,472. That thus man is, from creation, with 
respect to his interiors, a heaven in miniature, formed after the image of heaven at 
large ; and that the man who is born anew, or regenerated by the Lord, is such also, nn. 
911, 1900, 1928, 362-1—3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523, 4524, 4625, 6013, 9279, 9632. 

(') That there are three heavens, the inmost, the middle, and the ultimate ; or the 
third, the second, and the first, nn. 684, 9594, io,270. That goods, there, also follow 
each other in a triple order, nn. 4988, 4939, 9992, 10,005, 10,017. That the good of the 
inmost or third heaven is called celestial good, that of the middle or second, spiritual 
good, and that of the ultimate or first, natural good, nu. 4279, 4286, 4938, 9992, 10,005, 
10,017, 10,068. 

. 16 



HEAVEN. 34, 35 

are what determine their situation in one or other of these 
heavens ; for they inhabit a more interior heaven in proportion 
as their interiors are more oj)en to the Lord. There exist with 
every one, whether angel, spirit, or man, three degrees of the 
interiors : those with whom the third degree is open, are in the 
inmost heaven ; and those with whom the second degree, or 
only the first, is open, are either in the middle or ultimate 
heaven. The interiors are opened by the reception of divine 
good and divine truth. Those who are affected with divine 
truths, and admit them immediately into the life, thus into the 
will and thence into act, are in the inmost or third heaven, their 
situation there being according to their reception of good from 
the affection of truth ; those who do not admit divine truths 
immediately into the life, but into the memory and from that 
into the understanding, and thence will and do them, are in the 
middle or second heaven ; but those who lead a moral life, and 
believe in the Divine Being, without caring much to be in- 
structed, are in the ultimate or first heaven.("^) Hence it may 
appear, that the states of the interiors are what constitute 
heaven, and that heaven is within every one, and not without 
him ; as the Lord also teaches, saj^ng, ''''The Mngdom of God 
Cometh not with ol^servation^ neither shall they say^ Lo here! or 
Lo there ! for hehold^ the hingdom of God is within yov)^ (Luke 
xvii. 20, 21). 

34. All perfection, also, increases as it advances towards the 
interiors, and decreases as it descends towards the exteriors ; 
because interior things are nearer to the Divine I^ature, and in 
themselves more pure ; but 'exterior things are further removed 
from the Divine [feature, and in themselves more gross. (■*) An- 
gelic perfection consists in intelligence, wisdom, love, and every 
good, and thence in happiness, but not in happiness without the 
former ; for, without those graces, happiness is external and not 
internal. As, in the angels of the inmost heaven, the interiors 
are open in the third degree, their perfection immensely sur- 
passes that of the angels in the middle heaven, whose interiors 
are open in the second degree : and the perfection of the angels 
of the middle heaven exceeds that of the angels of the ultimate 
heaven in a similar manner. 

35. The difference between them being so great, an angel of 
one heaven cannot intrude amono^ the ano;els of another heaven ; 

(') That there are as many degrees of life in man as there are heavens, and that they 
are opened after deatia according to his life, nn. 3747, 9594. That heaven is in man, 
n. 3884. Hence, that whoever receives heaven in himself in the world, comes into 
heaven after death, n. 10,717. 

(*) That interior things are more perfect, hecause nearer to the Divine Being, nn. 
8405, 5146, 5147. That there are thousands and thousands of things in the internal, 
which in the external appear as one general thing, n. 5707. That so far as any one is 
slevated from external things towards interior things, so far he comes into liglit, and 
thus into intelligence ; and that such elevation is like passing out of a mist into a clear 
atmosphere wn. 45^.'8. 6183, 6313. 

2 17 



36 37 HEAVEN. 

that is, no one can ascend from an inferior heaven, nor descend 
from a superior one. Whoever ascends from an inferior to a 
superior heaven, is seized with an anxiety amounting to anguish ; 
nor can he see those who dwell there, still less can he converse 
with them ; and whoever descends from a superior to an inferior 
heaven is deprived of his wisdom, stammers in his speech, and 
is filled with despair. There were certain angels of the ultimate 
heaven who had not yet learned that heaven has its seat in the 
interiors of the angels, believing that they should come into 
superior heavenly happiness, could they but enter a heaven 
inhabited by angels by whom such happiness is enjoyed. They 
were also permitted : but when they came there, though they 
looked about for the angels, and there was a great multitude 
present, they could see no one : for the interiors of the strangers 
w^ere not opened in the same degree as the interiors of the 
angels who dwelt there, consequently, neither was their sight. 
Soon afterwards they were seized with anguish of heart, to such 
a degree, that they scarcely knew whether they were alive or 
not : wherefore they speedily betook themselves away to the 
heaven from which they came, rejoicing on their arrival amongst 
their own companious, and promising that they would never 
more covet any higher enjoyments than such as were in agree- 
ment with their life. I have also seen some angels let down out 
of a superior into an inferior heaven ; who were deprived of 
their wisdom to such a degree, that they did not know of what 
quality their own heaven was. But this does not happen, when 
the Lord, as is frequently the case, elevates any angels from an 
inferior to a superior heaven that they may see its glory ; for 
they then are previously prepared, and are surrounded by inter- 
mediate angels, by means of whom communication is effected. 
It is evident from these facts, that the three heavens are per- 
fectly distinct from each other. 

36. All, however, who reside in the same heaven can hold 
intercourse with each other; only the enjoyments of their inter- 
course depend upon the affinity between the kinds of good in 
which they are principled. But this will be treated of in the 
following sections. 

37. But though the three heavens are so distinct that the 
angels of one heaven cannot have intercourse with those of 
another, yet the Lord conjoins them all into one by immediate 
and mediate influx ; by immediate influx from himself into all 
the heavens, and by mediate influx from one heaven into 
another.(^) The result of this is, that the three heavens form a 

(*) That tlio influx proceeding from the Lord is both immediate from Himself, and 
mediate through one heaven into anotlier ; and that the influx from the Lord with. 
man takes place into his interiors in a similar manner, nn. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. 
Of the immediate influx of the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord, nu. 6058, 
6474—0478, 8717, 8728. Of the mediate influx through the spiritual world into the 
natural world, nn. 6982, 6985, 6996. 

, 18 



HEAVEN. 37. 38 



anited whole, and are all kept in connection, from the First 
Cause to ultimate eftects, so that nothing which is not in such 
connection can be found : for whatev^er is not connected witn 
the First Cause by intermediate links, cannot subsist, but is 
dissipated and falls to nothing.(^ 

38. He who does not know the regulations of divine order 
with respect to degrees cannot comprehend in what manner the 
heavens are distinct from each other, nor even what is meant by 
the internal and external man. Most persons in the world have 
no other idea of things interior and exterior, or superior and 
inferior, than as of somethino; continuous, or coherino; bv con- 
tinuity, from a purer state to a grosser ; whereas things interior 
and exterior are not continuous with respect to each other, but 
discrete * Degrees are of two kinds, there being continuous 
degrees and degrees not continuous. Continuous degrees are 
like the degrees of light, decreasing as it recedes from flame, 
which is its source, till it is lost in obscurity ; or like the degrees 
of visual clearness, decreasing as the sight passes from the 
objects in the light to those in the shade ; or like the degrees of 
the purity of the atmosphere from its base to its summit : these 
degrees being determined by the respective distances. But 
degrees that are not continuous, but discrete, differ from each 
other like what is prior and what is posterior, like cans© and 
effect, and like that which produces and that which is produced. 
Whoever investigates this subject will find, that in all the objects 
of creation, both general and particular, there are such degrees 
of production and composition, and that from one thing pro- 
ceeds another, and from that a third, and so on. He that has 
not acquired a clear apprehension of these degrees, cannot be 
acquainted with the difference between the various heavens, and 
between the interior and exterior faculties of man ; nor can he 
be acquainted with the difference between the spiritual world 
and the natural, nor between the spirit of man and his body ; 
nor, consequently, can he understand what correspondences and 
representations are, and their origin ; nor what is the nature of 
Influx. Sensual men cannot comprehend these distinctions, for 
they suppose increase and decrease, even with respect to these 
degrees, to be continuous ; on which account they can form no 
other conception of what is spiritual, than as something more 
purely natural. Thus they stand, as it were, without the gate, 
far remote from all that constitutes intelligence.^ 

* Discrete is a pliilosopliical term signifying separate, and is applied to two or more 
things that do not run into one another, but, though contiguous, have each tiieir dis- 
tinct boundary. — N. 

(®) That ail"^ things exist from things prior to themselves, thus from a First Cause; 
and that they subsist in like manner, because subsistence is perpetual existence ; and 
that therefore nothing unconnected is to be found, nn. 3626, 3627, 3628, 3643, 4523, 
4524, 6040, 6056. 

C) That things interior and exterior are not continuous, but distinct and discrete 
according to degrees ; and that everj' degree is terminated, nn. 8691, 5145, 5114^ S608, 

19 



39 41 HEAVEN. 

39. In the last place, a certain arcanum may be mentioned 
f-jspecting the angels of the three heavens, which never before 
entered the mind of any one, because no man has hitherto un- 
derstood the doctrine of degrees. There is in every augel, and 
also in every man, an inmost and supreme degree, or a certain 
inmost and supreme region of the soul, and faculty of reception, 
into which the Divine Sphere of the Lord first or proximately 
flows, and from which it regulates the other interior receptive 
faculties, which follow in succession according to the degrees of 
order. This inmost or supreme region of the soul may be called 
the Lord's entrance to angels and men, and his most immediate 
dwelling-place in them. It is ow4ng to his having this inmost 
or supreme abode for the Lord that a man is a man, and is dis- 
tinguished from the brute animals, which do not possess it. It 
is by virtue of this, that man, differently from animals, with 
respect to all the interiors, or the faculties belonging to his 
internal and external minds, is capable of being elevated by the 
Lord to himself, of believing in him, of being affected with love 
to him, and thus of seeing him ; . and is capable of receiving 
intelligence and wisdom, and of conversing in a rational manner : 
and it is also by virtue of this, that man lives to eternity. But 
the arrangements and provisions that are made by the Lord in 
this inmost region, do not come manifestly to the perception of 
any angel, because they are above his sphere of thought, and 
transcend his wisdom. 

40. These particulars are such as are common to all the three 
heavens ; but, in what follows, each heaven will be treated of 
specifically. 



THAT THE HEAVEN^S CONSIST OF INNUMERABLE SOCIETIES. 

41. The angels of each heaven do not dwell all together in 
one place, but are divided into larger and smaller societies, ac- 
cording to the differences of the good of love and faith in which 
they are grounded; those who are grounded in similar good 
forming one society. There is an infinite variety of kinds of 
good in the heavens ; and every angel is such in quality as is 
the good belonging to him.(^) 

10,099. That one thing is formed from another, and that the things thus formed are 
not purer and grosser by continuity, nn. 6326, 6465. That whoever does not perceive 
the distinction oetween things interior and exterior, according to degrees, can form no 
conception of the internal and external man, nor of the interior and exterior heavens, 
nn. 5146, 6465, 10,099, 10,181. 

(^) That variety is infinite, and that no one thing is ever the same as another, nn. 
7236, 9002. That there is also an infinite variety in the heavens, nn. 684, 690, 3744, 
5598, 7236. That the varieties in the heavens, which are infinite, are varieties of good, 
an. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002. That those varieties exist by means of the mul- 
tiplicity of truths, from which every cue acquires good, nn. 3470, 3804, 41-49, 6917, 

20 



HEAYEN. 42—46 

42. Tlie angelic societies in the heavens are also at a distance 
from each other, in proportion to the general and specific differ- 
ences of their species of good. For there is no other origin of 
distances, in the spiritual world, than the difference of the state 
of the interiors, thus, in the heavens, the difference of the states 
of love. Those who difier much in this respect, are at a great 
distance from each other, and those who differ little, are at a 
little distance ; but those Avhose states of love are similar 'dwell 
together.(^) 

43. All the angels in one society are distinctly arranged 
among themselves in a similar manner. Those who are more 
perfect, that is, who excel in good, and consequently in love, 
wisdom, and intelligence, are stationed in the middle ; and those 
who excel less are located round about them, being more distant 
by degrees in proportion as they diminish in perfection. In 
this respect they may be compared to light, which decreases as 
it recedes from its centre to the circumference : those who are 
in the middle are, also, in the greatest light, but those towards 
the circumference are in less and less. 

44. The angels who are of a similar quality come into each 
other's society aa it were spontaneously ; for when they are in 
company with such as are like themselves, they feel as if they 
were amongst their own relations, and in their own home ; but 
when they are in company with others, they feel as among 
strangers, and abroad. When they are amongst those that are 
like themselves, they also feel at liberty, and thence in the full 
enjoyment of their life. 

45. Hence it is evident, that good is what connects all the 
angels in the heavens together in society, and that they are dis- 
tinctly located according to its quality. Yet it is not the angels 
who thus connect themselves together in society, but the Lord, 
from whom all good proceeds : He leads them, conjoins them, 
distinctly arranges them, and preserves them in a state of lib- 
erty, in proportion as they are grounded in good ; thus He pre- 
serves every one in the life of his own love, his own faith, his 
own intelligence and wisdom, and consequently in happiness.(^) 

46. All the angels who are grounded in similar good, also 



7236. That hence all the societies in heaven, and all the angels in every society, arc 
distinct from each other, nn. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236,>833, 
7836. B'.t; that, nevertheless, they all act in unity hy means of love from the Lord, 
nn. 457, 3986. 

(') That all the societies of heaven have a fixed situation, according to the differences 
of their state of life, thus according to their differences of love and faith, nn. 1274, 3638, 
8639. Some wonderful particulars in the other life, or in the spiritual world, respect- 
ing distance, situation, place, space, and time, nn. 1273 — 1277. 

(^) That all liberty is of love or affection, because what a man loves, that he does 
freely, nn. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9585, 9591. That as liberty is what is of the love, it 
consequently is the life of every one, and his delight, n. 287*^3. That nothing appears 
to a man as his own, but what is of his liberty, n. 2880. That the very essence of lib- 
erty is lo be led by the Lord, because this is' to be led by the love of good and tr \lh, 
an. 892, 905, 2872, 2886, 2890, 2891, 2892 9586— 9,'.91. 

2] 



47 48 7 HEAVEN. 

know each other, though they never met before, as well as men 
in the world know their kindred, relations, and friends : the 
reason of which is, because in the other life there are no other 
relationships, affinities, and friendships, than such as are spir- 
itual, thus such as are the result of love and faith. ('') This it 
has been frequently granted me to see, when I have been in the 
spirit, and thus withdrawn from the b^d}^, and in company with 
angels. At such times, I have seen some who appeared to have 
been known to me from infancy ; whilst others seemed not 
known to me at all ; those whom I appeared to know, were 
such as were in a state similar to that of my spirit ; but those 
whom I did not know, were such whose state was dissimilar. 

47. All the angels who form one society, have a common 
likeness of countenance, but with a diiference in pai'ticular. 
An idea may, in some measure, be formed respecting such 
general likenesses with particular variations, from similar cases 
existing in the world. Thus it is well known that every race 
of people has some common likeness in the face and eyes, by 
which it is recognized, and is distinguished from other races ; 
which is yet more the case in particular families : but- this takes 
place in much greater perfection in the heavens, because there, 
all the interior affections ai^pear and shine forth from the face, 
which is there the external and representative form of those 
affections ; for to have any other face than such as is proper to 
the affections of its possessor, is not possible in heaven. It has 
also been shown me, in what manner the general resemblance 
is particularly varied in the individuals composing one society. 
Til ere appeared to me a face like that of an angel, which was 
varied according to the affections of good and truth, as they 
exist with the angels who dwell in one society. These varia- 
tions continued a long time ; and I observed that the same gen- 
eral countenance continued as the plane or groundwork of the 
rest, and that these were only derivations and propagations pro- 
ceeding from it. In the same manner, by means of this face, 
the affections of a whole society, according to which the faces 
of all its inmates are varied, were shown me : for, as observed 
nbove, the faces of angels are the forms of their interiors, thus 
of the affections which belong to their love and faith. 

48. It is from this cause that an angel who excels in wisdom 
can immediately see what is the quality of another by his face ; 
for no one there can disguise his interiors by his countenance, 
and put on an appearance which does not belong to him ; and 
it is quite impossible to utter falsehood, and to deceive by craft 
and hypocrisy. It, indeed, sometimes happens that hypocrites 
hisinuate themselves into angelic societies, having learned how 

(*) That all proximities, relationships, affinities and as it were, consanguinities, in 
h3ave)i, are derived from good, and are according to its agreeu^ents and differences. 
U\. 685, 917, 1394, 2739, 3612, 3^15, 4121. 

22 



HEAVEN. 49, 50 

to conceal their interiors, and so to fashion their exteriors as tu 
appear in the form of the good in which the members of the 
society are grounded, and thus to feign themselves angels of 
light : but they cannot long abide there ; for they soon begin to 
feel interior anguish, are tormented, turn black in the face, and 
are deprived, as it were, of life ; experiencing these alterations, 
from the opposite nature of the life which there enters by iiiliux, 
and operates upon them : wherefore they quickly cast them- 
selves down into the hell inhabited by spirits like themselves, 
and have no wish to ascend any more. These are such as are 
sio-nified bv the man who was found amono^st the o-uests, at the 
marriage-supper, not clothed with a wedding garment, and who 
was cast into outer darkness (Matt. xxii. 11, (fee). 

49. All the societies of heaven communicate with each other, 
though not by open intercourse ; for few go out of their ov*'n 
society into another, because to go out of their society is like 
going out of themselves, or out of their own life, and passing 
into another which does not so well agree with them ; but they 
all communicate by an extension of the sphere which j)i*oceeds 
from the life of each. The sphere of the life is a sphere of the 
affections which belong to their love and faith. This s})he:'e 
diifuses itself far and wide into the surrounding societies, and 
the more so, in proportion as the affections are more interior 
and perfect.(^) The angels enjoy intelligence and wisdom in 
proportion to the extent of this diflusion : and those who dwell 
in the inmost heaven, and in the central parts of it, have a dif- 
fusion of sphere that pervades the whole of heaven. Thus is 
produced a communication of all the societies of heaven with 
every individual angel, and of every individual angel with tliL' 
whole.(^) But this diffusion will be more fully treated of, in 
the Section concern ins^ the heavenlv form, according; to which 
the angelic societies are arranged ; and likewise in the Section 
that treats of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels ; for all 
the diffusions of the affections and thoughts proceed according 
to that form. 

50. It was observed above, that there are larger and smaller 
societies in the heavens ; the larger consist of myriads of angels, 
the smaller of several thousands, and the smallest of some hun- 
dreds. There are also some angels who dwell alone, as b} 
houses and families ; but though these live thus dispersed, yet 
they are arranged in a similar manner with those who dwell in 



(') That a spiritual sphere, which is the sphere of their life, flows out of every man, 
spirit, and angel, and surrounds them, nn. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630. That it flows from 
the life of their affection and thought, nn. 24S1», 4404, 6206. That those spheres ex- 
tend themselves far into the angelic societies, in proportion to the quality and quantity 
of their good, nn. 6603, 8063, 8794, 8797. 

(•) That a communication of the goods of all prevails in heaven, because heavenly 
love ccnmunieates every thing that is its own to others, nn. 549, 550, 1390, 1391, iS^i 
10,180, 10,723. 

23 



51, 52 heave:^. 



societies ; that is, the wiser among them are in the middle, and 
the more simple in the boundaries. These are more immedi- 
ately under the divine auspices of the Lord, and are the best of 
the angels. 



THAT EVERY SOCIETY IS A HEAVEN ON A SMALLER SCALE, 
AND EVERY ANGEL IS A HEAVEN IN MINIATURE. 

51. The reason that every society is a heaven on a smaller 
scale, and every angel is a heaven in miniature, is, because the 
good of love and faith is what constitutes heaven ; and that good 
exists in every society of heaven, and in every angel of such 
society. It matters not that this good is everywhere different 
and various ; still it is the good of heaven ; the only difference 
is, that heaven is of one quality in one place, and of another in 
another. It is therefore said, when" a person is elevated into 
any heavenly society, that he is gone to heaven ; and of its in- 
habitants, that they are in heaven, and every one in his own 
heaven. This is known to all in the other life ; wherefore those 
who stand without or below heaven, and view the abodes of the 
angelic assemblies from a distant situation, say that heaven is 
there, or there. This may be compared to the lords, officers, 
and attendants, in a royal palace or court ; who, although they 
dwell by themselves in separate apartments or chambers, one 
above and another below, are still all in one palace or court, 
ready to serve the king in their several capacities. This shows 
what is meant by the Lord's words, "J^ my FatJier'^s house are 
many mansion^'' (John xiv. 2) ; and what is meant by the habi- 
tations of heaven^ and the heaven of heavens^ in the prophets. 

52. That every society is a heaven on a smaller scale, may 
also appear from this circumstance, that the heavenly form is 
the same in each society as it is in the whole heaven ; for in the 
whole heaven, those angels who excel the rest dwell in the mid- 
dle, and around them even to the boundaries, decreasing in 
order, are those who excel less, as is stated in the preceding 
Section, n. 43. It may also appear from this circumstance, that 
the Lord guides all in the whole heaven as if they were one 
angel; and likewise those in each society ; on which account 
an entire angelic society sometimes appears as one object, in 
the form of an angel ; which sight has been granted nie by the 
Lord to behold. When, also, the Lord appears in the midst of 
the angels, he does not appear surrounded by a multitude, but 
as One Being in an angelic form ; which is the reason that the 
Lord, in the Word, is called an angel ; as is also an entire so- 
ciety ; for Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, are nothing but an- 

"24 



HEAVEN. 63--55 

gelic societies, which are so named from t' le fmictions they dis- 
charge.(^) 

53. As an entire society is a heaven on a smaller scale, so 
also is an angel a heaven in miniature ; because heaven is not 
without an angel, but within him. For his interiors, which be- 
long to his mind, are arranged into the form of heaven, and 
thus are adapted to the reception of all the elements of heaven 
that exist without him ; and he also does receive them accord- 
ing to the quality of the good which is in him from the Lord. 
Hence an angel, also, is a heaven. 

54. It can by no means be said that heaven is without any one, 
but that it is within him ; for every angel receives the heaven 
that is without him according to the heaven that is within him. 
This shows how they are deceived, who imagine, that to go to 
heaven is only to be taken up amongst the angels, let the 
quality of the individual with respect to his interior life be 
what it may ; and thus that an abode in heaven may be con- 
ferred on any one by an immediate act of grace ;(^) when, never- 
theless, unless heaven be within a person, nothing of the heaven 
that is without him can enter into him, and be received. Many 
spirits entertain the above opinion, and, on account of such be- 
ing their belief, some have been taken up into heaven ; but 
when they came there, their interior life being contrary to that 
in which the angels were grounded, they began to grow blind as 
to their intellectual faculties till they became like idiots, and to 
feel torture as to their will-faculties till they behaved like mad- 
men. In short, those who get into heaven after having lived ill, 
gasp for breath, and writhe about like fishes taken out of the 
water into the air, or like animals in the ether of an exhausted 
receiver, after the air has been extracted. Hence it may be 
evident, that heaven is within a person, and not without him.('^) 

55. As all receive the heaven which is without them, accord- 
ing to the nature of the heaven which is within them, they of 
course receive the Lord in the same manner, because the Divine 
Sphere of the Lord is what constitutes heaven. Hence when 
the Lord manifests Himself as present in any society, He ap- 
pears there according to the quality of the good in which the 
eociety is grounded, thus not the same in one society as in an- 
other; not that there is any variableness in Him, but the dis- 

(*) That the Lord is called an angel in the Word, nn. 6280, 0S31, 8192, 9303. That 
an entire angelie society is called an angel, and that Michael and Raphael are angelic 
Boeieties so named from their functions, n. 8192. That the societies of lieaven, and 
the angels, have not any name, but that they are known from the quality of their 
good, and from an idea respecting it, nn. 1705, 1754. 

(') That heaven is not granted from immediate mercy, but according to the life, and 
tJiat every priaciple of life by means of which man is led to heaven by the Lord, is 
from mercy, and is what is meant by it, nn. 5057, 10,659. That if heaven were granted 
from immediate mercy, it would be granted to all, n. 2401. Of certain evil spirits that 
were oast down from heaven, who imagined tliat heaven was /granted to every cne 
fron:: immediate mercy, n 42 26. 

(•) Ttuit heaven is in man, n. 3384- 

25 



56j 57 HEAVEN. 

similitude is in the angels, who view Him from their own good, 
and according to it. The angels are also affected at the sight oi 
the Lord, according to the quality of their love : those who love 
Him most interiorly, are most interiorly affected, and those 
who love Him less are less affected ; but the evil spirits, who 
are out of heaven, are tormented at His presence. When the 
Lord appears in any society. He appears there as an angel ; but 
He is distinguished from the others by the Divinity which 
shines through Him. 

56. Heaven also exists w^herever the Lord is acknowledged, 
believed in, and loved : and the various modes of worshipping 
Him, proceeding from that variety of good in different societies, 
are not injurious, but advantageous ; for the perfection of heaven 
is the result of that variety. That the perfection of heaven is 
the result of that variety, can hardly be intelligibly explained, 
without the assistance of the forms of expression in use in the 
learned world, and unless it be thereby shown how one whole, 
to be perfect, is formed of vaidous parts. Every whole is com- 
posed of various parts ; for a whole which is not composed of 
various parts, is not any thing, having no form, and consequently 
no quality ; but when a whole is composed of various parts, and 
these are arranged in a perfect form, in which each part adjoins 
itself to the others in harmonious accordance and re-gular series, 
the quality that results is that of perfection. Kow heaven is 
one whole, composed of various parts arranged in the most per- 
fect form ; for the heavenly form is the most perfect of all forms. 
That all perfection results from such harmonious variety, is evi- 
dent from all the beauty, pleasantness, and agreeablenes&, which 
affect both the senses and the mind : for these qualities exist 
and proceed from no other source, than the concert and harmony 
of various concordant and consentient parts, arranged either in 
coexistent or in successive order, and do not result from any 
single thing without more. Hence the proverb, that variety is 
charming ; and it is known that its charms depend upon its 
quality. From these considerations it may be seen, how per- 
fection results from variety, even in heaven ; for the objects of 
the spiritual world may be seen, as in a mirror, from those of 
the natural.('*) 

57. The same assertion may be made respecting the church 
as respecting heaven ; for the church is the Lord's heaven on 
earth. This has many branches ; and yet each is called the 
church, and also is the church, so far as the good of love and 
faith reigns in it : and here, also, the Lord makes one whole out 
of various parts, thus one church out of many.(^) The same 

(*) That every whole results from the harmony and agreement of various parts, and 
that otherwise it has no quality, n. 457. That hence tlie universal heaven is one, n. 
457. liecause all therein regard one end, which is the Lord, n. 9828. 

(*) Tliat if good were the characteristic and essential of the church, and not truth 
without good, the church would be one, nn. 1285, 1316, 2982, 3267, 3445, 3451, 8452. 

26 



HEAVEN. 57, 68 

may also be said of eacli member of the clinrch in particular, as 
of the church in general, namely, that the church is within the 
man, and not without him, and that every man, in whom tlie 
Lord is present in the good of love and faith, is a church. (®) 
The same, too, may be said respecting a man in whom the 
church is, as respecting an angel in whom heaven is, namely, 
that he is a church in miniature, as the angel is a heaven in 
miniature : and further, that a man in whom the church is, is a 
heaven, equally with an angel : for man was created to go to 
heaven and become an angel ; wherefore he who receives good 
from the Lord is a man-angel. (') It may be expedient to 
mention what is common both to men and angels, and what, 
compared with angels, is peculiar to man. It is common hotli 
to man and angels^ to have their interiors formed after the image 
of heaven ; and also, to become images of heaven in proportion 
as they are grounded in the good of love and faith : and it is 
2?eGuliar to vian compared witTi the angels^ to have his exteriors 
formed after the image of the world, and, so far as he is ground- 
ed in good, to have his worldly part rendered subordinate to 
his heavenly part, so as to serve it ;(^) and then to have the 
Lord present with him in both, as in his heaven ; for the Lord 
is in His own divine order everywhere, God being order itself.(^) 
58. It may lastly be stated, that whoever has heaven in him- 
self, not only enjoys it in his greatest or most general parts and 
faculties, but also in his least or individual ones ; for the least 
things in him present an image of the greatest. The reason of 
this is, because every one is his own love, and is of such a qual- 
ity as his reigning love is : for whatever reigns, flows into and 
arranges the most minute particulars, and induces everywhere 
the likeness of itself. (^^) The reigning love in the heavens is love 

That all the churches, also, make one cliurch in ttie sight of the Lord from good, nn. 
7396, 9276. 

(') That the church is in man and not without him, and that the church at large 
consists of men in whom the church is, n. 3884. 

C) That the man in whom the church is. is a heaven in miniature after tlie image 
of heaven at large, because the interiors which are of his mind are arranged into the 
form of heaven, and thus are adapted to the reception of all things of heaven, nn. 911, 
1900, 1928, 8624—3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523, 4524, 4625, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9632. 

(^) That man has an internal and an external, and that his internal is formed from 
creation after the image of heaven, and his external after the image of the world, and 
that therefore man was called by the ancients a microcosm, nn. 4523, 4524, 5868, 6013, 
6057, 9279, 9706, 10,156, 10,472, That therefore^ man was so created, that the world 
with him might serve heaven ; as it also does with the good ; but that with the evil 
the case is inverted, and heaven serves the world ; nn. 9283, 9278. 

(') T'-iat the Lord is Order, because Divine Good and Truth, which proceed from 
the Loi a, constitute Order, nn. 172S, 1919, (2201,) 2258, (5110.) 5703, 8988, 10,330, 
10,619. That divine truths are the laws of order, nn. 2247, 7995. That so for as a 
man lives according to order, thus so far as he lives in good according to divine truths, 
so far he is a man, and heaven and the church are in him, nn. 4839, 6605, (8067.) 

(") That the governing or ruling love with every one resides in all and each of the 
things belonging to his life, thus in all and each of the things belonging to his thought 
and will, nn."6159, 7648, 8067, 8853. That man is of suclv a qualitv Jts the ffoverning 
principle of his life is, nn. (918,) 1040, 1568, 1571, 3570, 6571, 6934, 6938, 8858, 8857, 
10,076, 10,109, 10,110, 10,284. That love and faith, when they govern, are in the minu- 
test particulars of a man's life, though he does not know it, nn* 8854 3864, 8865. 

27 



59. CO HEAVE^ 



to the Lord, becai..se the Lord is there lo\v3d above all tilings : 
hence the Lord is there the All in all. He enters bj influx into 
all the angels, both collectively and individually, arranges th«jm, 
and induces on them the likeness of Himself, constituting heaven 
by His presence. From this cause it is, that an angel is a 
heaven in miniature, a society is a heaven on a larger scale, and 
all the societies together are heaven on the largest ; that the 
Divine Sphere of the Lord constitutes heaven, and is the All in 
all, may be seen above, n. Y— -12. 



THAT THE WHOLE HEAVEN, VIEWED COLLECTIVELY, IS IN FORM 

AS ONE MAN. 

59. That heaven, viewed collectively, is in form as one man, 
is an arcanum v^hicli is not yet known in the world : but it is 
well known in the heavens ; for the knowledge of this arcanum, 
with the particular and most particular circumstances relating 
to it, is the chief article of the intelligence of the angels ; since 
many other things depend upon it, which, without a knowledge 
of this as their common centre, could not possibly enter distinctly 
and clearly into their ideas. As they know that all the heavens, 
together with their societies, are in form as one man, they also 
call heaven the Grand and Divine Man.(^) They call it divine, 
because the Divine Sphere of the Lord constitutes heaven, as 
shown above, n. 7 — 12. 

60. They who have not a just idea respecting such subjects, 
cannot conceive that things spiritual and celestial can be ar- 
ranged and conjoined into that form and image. They imagine 
that the earthly and material elements which compose the ulti- 
mate of man, are what make him such, and that he would not be 
a man without them : But be it known to such, that a man is 
not a man by virtue of having those elementary particles at- 
tached to him, but by virtue of his being endowed with a capa- 
city to understand what is true and will what is good. These are 
spiritual and celestial things ; and these are what constitute him 
a man. It is also generally known, that the quality of every 
one, as a man, is such as is that of his understanding and will ; 
and it might be known, further, that his earthly body is formed 
for the service, in the world, of those faculties, and to perform 
uses in conformity with their behests in the ultimate sphere of 
nature. On this account, also, the body has no activity of it- 
self, but is made to act in passive compliance with the pleasure 
of the understanding and will ; and this so absolutely, that what- 

(*) That hearcn, in the whole complex, appears in form like a man, and that it is 
thence called the Grand or Greatest Man, nn. 2;)y«, 2998, 8624^—3649, 3741—3745, 
4625. 

28 



HEAVEN. (jl (j'J 

ever tke man thinks, lie utters with the tongue and lips, and 
whatever he pleases to do, he executes by the body and mem- 
bers, so that the understanding and will are the agent, and the 
body, of itself, not at all so. Hence it is evident, that the powers 
belonging to his understanding and will are what make the 
man ; and that their form is like that of the body, because they 
act upon the most minute and individual parts and fibres of the 
body, as what is internal on what is external. Man, therefore, by 
virtue of those faculties, is called an internal and spiritual man. 
Such a man, in his greatest and most perfect form, is heaven. 

61. Such is the idea which the angels entertain concerning 
man ; wherefore they pay no attention whatever to the things 
which man does wdth tne body, but to the will from which the 
body acts. This they call the man himself; and the under- 
standing also, so far as it acts in unity with the will.(^) 

62. The angels do not, indeed, see all heaven, collectively, in 
such a form, for the whole of heaven is too vast to be grasped 
by the sight of any angel ; but they occasionally see distant so- 
cieties, consisting of many thousands of angels, as one object in 
such a form ; and from a society, as a part, they form their con- 
clusion respecting the whole, which is heaven. For in a most 
perfect form, wholes are as their parts, and parts as their wholes ; 
the only difference being like that between . similar things of 
greater and less magnitude. Hence the angels say, that the 
whole heaven is sach in the sight of the Lord, as a single society 
is when seen by them ; because the Divine Being, from his in- 
most and supreme residence, sees all together. 

63. Such being the form of heaven, it also is governed by the 
Lord as one man, and thus as one whole. For it is well known, 
although man consists of an innumerable variety of things, both 
in the whole and in part ; consisting, in the whole^ of members, 
organs, and viscera, and in jpaH^ of series of fibres, nerves, and 
blood-vessels ; thus of members within members, and of parts 
within parts ; that nevertheless, when he acts, he acts as one 
man. Such also is heaven, under the government and guidance 
of the Lord. 

64. The reason that so many various things in man are as 
one, is, because there is nothing in him which does not con- 
tribute its share to the common good, and perform its proper 
use. The whole performs use to its parts, and the parts perform 
use to the whole : for the whole consists of the parts, and the 
parts constitute the whole : wherefore they provide for each 
other's necessities, have respect to each other's state, and are 

(') That the will of man is the very esse of his life, and that the understanding ia 
the existere of his life thence derived, nn. 3619, 5002, 9282. Tliat the life of the will 
is the principal life of man, and that the life of the understanding proceeds from it, 
nn. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10,076, 10,109, 10,110. That man is man by virtue 
of his will, and thence by virtue of his undere'nndiug, nn. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10,076, 
10.109, 10,110. 

29 



64, 65 HEAYEN. 

combined in such, a form, that they all, both generally and indi- 
vidually, act with reference to the whole and its good. Thus il 
is that they act as a one. It is in this manner that societies are 
connected together in the heavens. The inhabitants are there 
combined into such a form according to their capacity of per- 
forming uses ; and they who contribute nothing to the good of 
the community, are cast out, as being foreign to the nature of 
heaven. To perform uses consists in cherishing good-will to 
others for the sake of the common good ; but not to perform 
uses consists in cherishing good-will to others, not for the sake 
of the common good, but for that of self. These are the charac- 
ters who love themselves above all things ; but the former are 
those who love the Lord above all things. It is thus that the in- 
habitants of heaven are as a one, and that they are so, not from 
themselves, but from the Lord : for they regard Him as the One 
Only Being from whom all good proceeds, and his kingdom as 
the community whose good is to be sought. This is meant by 
the Lord's words, ''''Seek ye first the hingdom of God^ and his 
righteousness^ and all these things shall he added tmto youP — 
(Matt. vi. 33.) To seek his righteousness means, his good.(^ 
They who, in the world, love the good of their country more 
than their own, and that of their neighbor as their own, are 
those who, in the .other life, love and seek the kingdom of God ; 
for there the kingdom of God is in the place of their country ; 
and they who love to do good to others, not for their own sake, 
but out of regard to gOod itself, are those who love their neigh- 
bor ; for there, good is their neighbor,('*) All who are of such a 
character have a place in the Grand Man, that is, in heaven. 

65. Since heaven, as a whole, resembles one man, and is, also, 
a Divine-spiritual man in the greatest form, even with respect 
to shape, it necessarily has the same distinctions, as to members 
and parts, as man has, bearing similar names. The angels, also, 
know in what member this or the other society is situated ; 
which they express by saying, that this society is in the mem- 
ber, or in some province, of the head — that, in the member, or 
in some province, of the breast — that other, in the member, or 
in some province, of the loins ; and so with respect to others. 
In general, the supreme or third heaven composes the head, as 
far as the neck ; the middle or second heaven composes the breast 
or body, to the loins and knees ; and the ultimate or first heaven 
composes the legs and feet down to the soles ; as also, the arms 
down to the fingers ; for the arms and hands are parts of the ul 

(') That justice, in the "Word, is predicated of good, and judgment of truth ; and 
tiftuce to do justice and judgment is to do what is good and true, nn. 2235, 9857. 

(*) That, in tlie supreme sense, the Lord is our neighbor ; and lience that to love 
the Lord is to love that which is from Him, because in all which is from Him He i^, 
thus it is to love what is good and true, nn. 2425, 8419, 6706, 6711, 6819, 6823, .8128 
Hence, that all good which is from the Lord is the neighbor, and that to will and t4 
do that erood is to love our neighbor, nn. 5026, 10,336. 

3b 



UEAVEN. 66 — 68 

timates of man, though placed at the sides. Hence, again, it is 
evident why there are three heavens. 

66. The spirits who are beneath heaven are exceedingly aston- 
ished, when they hear and see, that heaven is below as well as 
above : because they entertain the same belief and opinion as 
men do in the world, supposing heaven to be nowhere but over 
head. For they are not aware that the situation of the heavens 
is like that of the members, organs, and viscera, in man, some 
of which are above and others beneath ; and like the situation 
of the parts in every member, organ, and viscus, some of which 
are within and some without. Thus their ideas, on the subject 
of heaven, are all confusion. 

67. These particulars are stated respecting heaven, as the 
Grand Man, because, without a knowledge of these facts, what 
further remains to be stated respecting heaven cannot possibly 
be comprehended. J^either can any distinct idea be conceived 
of the Form of Heaven, of the Conjunction of the Lord with 
Heaven, of the Conjunction of Heaven with Man, nor of the In- 
flux of the Spiritual World into the Natural ; and none what- 
ever respecting Correspondence ; of which subjects, in their 
order, we are to proceed to treat. To throw light upon them, 
therefore, the above is premised. 



THAT EVERY SOCIETY IN THE HEAVENS IS IN FORM AS ONE 

MAN. 

68. Tliat every society of heaven is likewise as one man, and 
also has the form of a man, it has been occasionally granted me 
to see. There was a certain society, into which many spirits 
had insinuated themselves, who knew how to feign themselves 
to be angels of light, being hypocrites. When these were being 
separated from the angels, I saw that the whole society at first 
appeared as one indistinct mass ; afterwards, by degrees, but still 
indistinctly, in the human form ; and at last, distinctly, as a 
man. They who were in that man, and composed him, were 
those that were grounded in the good proper to that society ; 
but the others, who were not in that man, and did not compose 
him, were hypocrites. These were rejected, and the others re- 
tained. Thus a separation was effected. Hypocrites are such 
as talk well, and also act well, but who, in whatever they say or 
do, have respect to themselves. They talk like angels about the 
Lord, about heaven, about love, and about the heavenly life: 
and they also act well, so as to appear to be such as their dis- 
coui-se would imply : but their thoughts are different : they be- 
lieve nothing of what they say, and do not cherish good-will to 
any but themselves. When they do good, it is only for the sake 

81 



09 '72 HEAVEN. 

of themselves ; and if they also do good for the sake of others, 
it is that they may have the reputation of it ; and thus, still, for 
the sake of themselves. 

69. That a whole angelic society, when the Lord exhibits 
himself as present, appears as one object in a human form, it 
has also been granted me to see. There appeared on high, to- 
wards the east, something like a cloud, inclining from white to 
red, and encompassed with little stars. It was descending ; and 
as it descended, it became, by degrees, more clear, and at length 
was seen in a form perfectly human. The little stars surround- 
ing the cloud w^ere angels, who had that appearance in conse- 
quence of the light proceeding from the Lord. 

70. It is to be observed, that although all who reside in one 
heavenly society, when seen together, appear as one object, hav- 
ing the likeness of a man, still one society does not compose 
exactly such a man as another does. They differ from each other 
like the faces of different persons of the same family. The cause 
of this is that mentioned above (n. 47) ; namely, that they vary 
as to form according to the varieties of good in which they are 
grounded, and by which their forms are determined. The so- 
cieties which appear in the most perfect and beautiful human 
form, are those that compose the inmost or highest heaven, and 
which occupy its central region. 

71. It is worthy of mention, that in proportion as the mem- 
bers of any heavenly society are more numerous, all acting as a 
one, the more perfect is the human form of that society; for 
variety, arranged in a heavenly form, produces perfection (as 
shown above, n. 56) : and it is numbers that produce va- 
riety. Every society of heaven, also, increases in number 
daily ; and as it does so, it also increases in perfection : the con- 
sequence of which is, that not only is that society rendered more 
perfect, but, also, heaven at large ; for heaven at large is com- 
posed of its various societies. Since heaven advances in perfec- 
tion as its inhabitants increase in multitude, it is evident how 
much they are mistaken who imagine, that heaven will be shut 
when full ; whereas the contrary is the truth, namely, that it 
will never be shut, and that the greater its fulness the greater 
its perfection. There is nothing, therefore, which the angels 
more earnestly desire, than to receive additional angels, as new 
guests, among them. 

72. The reason that every society, on being viewed together, 
appears as one object in the shape of a man, is, because heaven 
at large has that shape (as shown in the preceding section) ; and 
in a form that is most perfect, such as that of heaven, the parts 
bear the likeness of the whole, and the smaller objects that of 
the greatest. The smaller objects and parts of heaven, are the 
societies of which it consists ; which, also, are heavens on a 
smaller scale (as shown above, nn. 51 — 58). The reason that eucb 

32 



HEAVEN. 72, 73 

a likeness constantly prevails, is, because, in the heavens, the 
kinds of good in which all are grounded are derived from one 
jOve, tiuis from one source ; and the single love from which is 
the source of all the kinds of good which prevail there, is love 
to the Lord derived from Himself Hence, heaven, as a whole, 
is His likeness in general ; every society, less generally ; and 
every angel, in particular. (See, also, what was said on this 
Bubject above, n. 58.) 



THAT HENCE EVERY ANGEL IS IN A PERFECT HUMAN FORM. 

73. It has been shown in the two preceding Sections, that 
heaven, taken collectively, is in form as one man. ; and every so- 
ciety in heaven likewise : and it follows in order, from the causes 
there stated, that the same is true respecting every angel. As 
heaven is a man in the greatest form, and every society in a less, 
so is every angel in the least ; for in a most perfect form, such 
as that of heaven, the whole has its likeness in every part, and 
every part in the whole. The reason of this is, because heaven 
is a communion ; for it communicates all that belongs to it, to 
every inhabitant, and every inhabitant receives all that belongs 
to him from that communion. An angel is a receptacle of what 
is thus communicated ; whence, also, he is a heaven in minia- 
ture (as show^n, in a specific Section, above). So also man, so 
far as he receives heaven in himself, is such a receptacle, is a. 
heaven, and is an angel (see above, n. 57). This is described in 
the Revelation in these words : " And he measured the wall 
thereof^ a hundred and forty and four cicbits / according to the 
measure of a man^ that is^ of am. angeV (ch. xxi. 17). Jerusalem, 
there spoken of, is the Lord's church, and, in a more exalted 
sense, heaven :(^) its wall is truth, as protecting it from the attacks 
of falsities and evils :(^) the number a hundred and forty-four 
denotes all truths and goods collectively :(^) the measure means 
its quality :(^) a man is the subject in whom they all have their 
residence, in general, and in particular, thus, in whom heaven 
abides : and because an angel is also a man by virtue of his re- 
ceiving those endowments, therefore it is said, " the measure of a 

(^) That Jerusalem is the church, nn. 402, 3654, 9166. 

(') That a wall denotes truth that protects from the assault of falsities and of evils, 
n. 6419. 

(^) That twelve denotes all truths and goods in the complex, nn. 577, 2089, 2129, 
2130, 3272, 3858, 8918. In like manner seventy-two, and a hundred and forty-four, 
since a hundred and forty-four arises from twelve muifiplied into itself, n. 7973. 
That all numbers, in the Word, signify things, nn. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 
1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265. That numbers multiplied signify the same 
with the simple ones from which they arise by multiplication, nn. 5291, 5835, 5708, 
7973. 

(*) That measure, in the "Word, signifies the quality of a thing as to truth and good, 
nn. 3104, 9603. 

3 33 



73, 74 HEAVEN. 

man, that is, of an angel."(^)* This is the spiritual sense of those 
words ; and without that sense who could understand what is 
meant by the wall of the holy Jerusalem being " the measure of 
a man, that is, of an angel f' 

74. But to certify this from experience. That angels are 
human forms, or men, I have seen a thousand times : for I have 
conversed with them as one man does with another, sometimes 
with one alone, and sometimes with marsy in company : nor did 
I ever see in them any thing differing, as to their form, from 
man. I have sometimes wondered at finding them such ; and 
lest it should be objected that I was deceived by some fallacy or 
visionary fancy, it has been granted me to see them when I 
was wide awake, or when all my bodily senses were in activity, 
and I w^as in a state to perceive every thing clearly. I have 
also frequently told them, that men in the Christian world are 
in such gross ignorance respecting angels and spirits, as to sup- 
pose them to be minds without a form, or mere thoughts, of 
which they have no other idea than as something ethereal pos- 
•sessing a vital principle ; and as they thus attribute to them 
nothing belonging to man except a faculty of thinking, they ima- 
gine that they cannot see, being without eyes, nor hear, being 
without ears, nor speak, having neither mouth nor tongue. 
The angels said in reply, that they are aware that such a belief 
exists with many in the world, and that it particularly prevails 
among the learned, and also, at which they marvelled, among 
the clergy. They also explained the reason of this ; namely, 
that the learned, who had been guides of others, and who first 
broached such notions about angels and spirits, thoifght respect- 
ing them from the sensual apprehensions of the external man ; 
and they who think from their sensual apprehensions, and not 
from interior light, and from the general idea inherent in every 
one, cannot but form such inventions, since the sensual faculties 
of the external man can comprehend nothing but what is within 
the sphere of nature, and not any thing above that sphere, conse- 
quently, nothing whatever that relates to the spiritual world. (^ 
From these authorities, as leaders, that erroneous mode of 
thinking respecting angels was derived to others, who did not 
think for themselves, but took their opinions from them ; and 
those who first take their opinions from others, and make them 



(') Eespecting the spiritual or internal sense of the Word, see the little trac' on 
tJit White Horse mentioned in the Revelation^ and the Appendix to the chapter on tho 
Word in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine. 

(*) Tliat man, unlcse lie be elevated above the sensual principles of the external 
man, inakes little progress in wisdom, n. 5089. That a wise man thinks above those 
Bensual principles, nn. 5089, 5094. That when man is elevated above those sensual 
principles, he comes into a clearer light, and at length into heavenly light nn. 6188, 
6318, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922. That elevation and abstraction from those sensual prin- 
ciples was known to the ancients, n. 6313. 

* "^» angel" is the correct tranalatiou; not ^Hhe angel," as in the common rer* 
sion. — N. 

34 



HEAVEN. 75, 76 

points of faitli with themselves, and afterwards view tl em aa 
euch from their own understanding, can with diificulty give 
them up ; wherefore they usually rest satisfied with con:firming 
them as true. The angels said, further, that the simplo in faith 
and heart do not form such conceptions respecting angels, but 
have an idea of them as heavenly men, by reason that they have 
not extinguished, by erudition, their inherent perception, de- 
rived from heaven, and can conceive of nothing as being with- 
out form. Hence it is, that angels are never represented in 
churches, either in sculpture or in painting, otherwise than as 
men. Of that inherent faculty of perception derived from heav- 
en, they said, that it is the Divine Sphere entering by influx 
with those who are grounded in good as to faith and life. 

75. From all my experience, and which I have now enjoyed 
for many years, I can declare and affirm, that angels, as to form, 
are in every respect men ; that they have faces, eyes, ears, a 
body, arms, hands, feet, and that they see, hear, and converse 
with each other ; in short, that they are deficient in nothing 
that belongs to a man, except that they are not super-invested 
with a material body. I have seen them in their own light, 
which exceeds in brightness, by many degrees, the noonday 
light of the word ; and in that light I have beheld all the fea- 
tures of their faces more distinctly and clearly than it is possible 
to see the features of men on earth. It also has been granted 
me to see an angel of the inmost heaven. His face was more 
bright and resplendent than those of the angels of the lower 
heavens. I examined him ; and I can declare, that he had the 
human form in its utmost j)erfection. 

76. But it is to be observed, that angels cannot be seen by 
man with the eyes of his body, but only with the eyes of the 
spirit which is within man,(') because this is in the spiritual 
world, whereas all the parts of the body are in the natural world. 
Like sees like, because from a like ground. Besides, the organ 
of sight belonging to the body, which is the eye, is so obtuse, 
that, as is known to every one, it cannot even discern, except 
by the aid of optical glasses, the smaller objects of nature ; — 
much less can it discern objects which are above the sphere of 
nature, as are all those of the spiritual world. These, however, 
may be seen by man, when he is withdrawn from the sight of 
his body, and that of his spirit is opened. This, also, is done in 
an instant, when it is the pleasure of the Lord that the things 
of the spiritual world should be seen by man ; nor is he at all 
aware, at the time, that he does not behold him with the eyes 
of his body. It was thus that angels were seen by Abraham, 
Jjot, Manoah, and the prophets : it was thus that the Lord was 

f) Tliat man, as to his interiors, is a spirit, n. 1594. And that the 8->irit is the mac 
himself, and that the body lives from it, nn. 447, 4622, 6054. 

35 



77, 78 HEAVEN. 

seen by the disciples after his resurrection : and it was thus, also, 
that angels have been seen by me. As the prophets enj )yed 
this mode of vision, they were therefore called seers^ and men 
whose eyes were ojpen (1 Sam. ix. 9 ; ]S^um. xxiii. 3) ; and to (^ause 
them to see in this way was called opening their eyes ; as waa 
done to Elisha's servant, of whom we read, " And Elisha prayed, 
and said, Jehovah, I jpray thee^ open his eyes^ that he may see. 
And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man / and he saw : 
and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire 
round about Elisha." — (2 Kings vi. 17^ 

77. Good spirits, with whom, also, I have conversed on this 
subject, were deeply grieved that such ignorance respecting the 
state of heaven, and respecting spirits and angels, should prevail 
in the church ; and they desired me, with indignation, to say 
from them, that they are not formless minds, nor ethereal puffs 
of breath, but they are men as to shape, and that they see, hear, 
Hud possess every sense, equally with men in the world. (^) 



THAT IT IS BY DERIVATIOI^ FROM THE LORD'S DIVINE HUMANITY, 
THAT HEAVEN, BOTH IN THE WHOLE AND IN ITS PARTS, IS IN 
FORM AS A MAN. 

78. That it is by derivation from the Lord's Divine Humanity, 
that heaven, both in the whole and in its parts, is in form as a 
man, follows as a conclusion from all that has been advanced 
and shown in the preceding Sections. It has there been shown, 
I, That the Lord is the ffod of heaven : II. That the Divine 
Sphere of the Lord constitutes heaven : III. That heaven consists 
of innwnerable societies / and that each society is a heaven on a 
S'tnaller scale^ and every angel is a heaven in miniature : lY. 
That the whole heaven^ viewed collectively^ is in form as one 
man : Y. That every society in the heavens is also inform as 
one man: YI. That thence every angel is in a perfect human 
form. All these truths point to this conclusion: That the 
Divine Being, whose Proceeding Sphere is what constitutes 
heaven, is Human in form. That this is the Lord's Divine Hu- 
manity, will be still more clearly seen, because in a compendious 
form, from the extracts which, by way of corollary, are adduced 
below from the Arcana Cmlestia. That the Lord's Humanity is 
Divine, and that it is not true, as generally believed in the 
church, that His Humanity is not Divine, may also be seen 

(®) That every angel, inasmuch as he is a recipient of Divine Order from the Lord, 
is in a human form, perfect and beautiful according to such reception, nn. 322, 1880, 
1881, 8633, 8804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4y85, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879, 10,177, 10,594. That 
the Divine Truth is the principle by which order is effected, and the Divine Good is 
the essential of order, nn. 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10,122, 10,555. 

36 



HEAVEN 79 81 

from those Extracts ; and likewise, from the Doctrine of the Nev 
Jerusalem^ near the end, in the Section respecting the Lord. 

79. That such is the fact, has been evinced to me by much 
experience, part of which shall now be related. No angel in all 
the heavens ever has a perception of the Divine Being under 
any other form than the Human ; and, what is wonderful, those 
who inhabit the superior iieavens cannot think of the Divine 
Being in any other manner. They derive the necessity of so 
thinking from the Divine Sphere itself which enters them by 
influx ; and also, from the form of heaven, according to which 
their thoughts diffuse themselves around. For every thought 
conceived by the angels diffiises itself into heaven round about 
them, and they enjoy intelligence and wisdom according to the 
extent of that diffusion. Hence it is that all in heaven acknowl- 
edge the Lord, because there is no Divine Humanity except in 
Him. These truths have not only been related to me by the 
angels, but it has also been granted me to have a perception of 
them myself, when I have been elevated into the interior sphere 
of heaven. Hence it is evident, that the wiser the angels are, 
the more clearly do they perceive this truth. Hence also it is, 
that the Lord appears to them : for the Lord ajDpears in a Divine 
Angelic Form, which is the Human, to those who acknowledge 
and believe in a visil^le Divine Being, but not to the worship- 
pers of an invisible Divinity : for the former can see their God; 
but the latter cannot. 

80. As the angels have no perception of an invisible Divine 
Being, which they call a God without form, but of a Divine 
Being visible in Human Form, it is common with them to say, 
that the Lord Alone is a Man, and that they are men by deriva- 
tion from Him ; also, that every one is a man in pro23ortion as 
he receives Him. By receiving the Lord, they mean, to receive 
good and truth, which are from Him ; since the Lord is in His 
own good and His own truth. This, also, they call wisdom 
and intelligence : they say, that every one may know that intel- 
ligence and wisdom are what constitute a man, and not a human 
face without them. That such is the fact, is also apparent from 
the angels of the interior heavens. Being grounded in good 
and ti'uth, and thence in wisdom and intelligence, from the 
Lord, they appear in the most beautiful and most perfect human 
form. The angels of the lower heavens also appear in a human 
form, though not so perfect and beautiful. But in hell, the case 
is reversed. Its inhabitants, when seen in the light of heaven, 
scarcely appear as men at all, but as monsters : for they are 
grounded in evil and falsity, not in goodness and truth, and 
thence in the opposites to wisdom and intelligence ; wherefore, 
also, their life is not called life, but spiritual death. 

81. Since heaven, both in the whole and in its parts, presents 
the form of a man, by derivation from the Lord's Divine Hu- 

37 



82 8i HEAVEN. 

manity, it is customary for the angels to say, that they are in 
the Lord ; and some, that they are in his body, by which they 
mean, in the good of his love : as, also, the Lord himself teaches, 
saying, " Abide in Me^ and I i'ti you. As the branch cannot 
bear fruit of itself^ except it abide in the vine / no more can ye, 

except ye abide in Me. For without Me^ ye can do nothing. 

Continue ye in My love. If ye heep My commandments^ 

ye shall abide in My love."^^ — (John xv. 4—10.) 

82. Since such is the perception respecting the Divine Being 
that exists in heaven, it is inherent in every man, who receives 
any influx from heaven, to think of God under a Human Shape. 
Thus did the ancients : thus also do the moderns, those without 
the church as well as those within it : simple persons view him 
in thought as an Old Man surrounded with brightness. But 
this inherent perception has been extinguished by all those who 
exclude the influx from heaven, either bv self-derived intelli- 
gence, or by a life of evil : those who have extinguished it by 
self-derived intelligence, will have none but an invisible God ; 
and they who have done so by a life of evil, no God at all. 
Neither class is aware that any such inherent perception exists, 
since it does not exist with them ; and yet this is that very 
Divine celestial principle which primarily enters man by influx 
from heaven, because man is born for heaven, and none can go 
there without an idea of the Divine Being. 

83. Hence it results, that he who is destitute of a right idea 
of heaven, that is, of an idea of the Divine Being from whom 
heaven exists, cannot be elevated to the lowest threshold of the 
heavenly kingdom. As soon as he approaches it, he is sensible 
of a resistance, and a strong repelling efibrt : the reason is, be- 
cause, in him, the interiors, which should be open for the recep- 
tion of heaven, are closed, because they are not in the form of 
heaven ; indeed, the nearer he comes to heaven, they are closed 
the more tightly. Such is the lot of those within the church who 
deny the Lord, and of those who, like the Socinians, deny his 
Divinity. But what is the lot of those who are born without 
the church, to whom the Lord is not known because they are not 
in possession of the Word, will be seen in the following pages. 

84. That the ancients had an idea of Humanity connected 
with their idea of the Divine Being, is evident from his ap]3ear- 
ances to Abraham, Lot, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, his wife, and 
others ; all of whom, though they saw God as a Man, neverthe- 
less worshipped him as the God of the universe, calling him the 
God of heaven and earth, and Jehovah. That it was the Lord 
who was seen by Abraham, He teaches himself in John (Ch. 
viii. 56) : and that it was He, also, who appeared to the others, 
is evident from His words, when He said, " Ye have neither 
heard His [the Father'' s\ voice at any time^ nor seen His shape^ 
(Ch. V. 37 ; i. 18). 

38 



HEAVEN. 85, 86 

85. But tliat God is a Man, can with difficulty be conceived 
by those who judge of every thing from the sensual apprelien- 
Bions of the external man. For a sensual man can only thint 
of the Divine Being from the world and its objects ; thus he can 
only think of a Divine and Spiritual Man as of a corporeal and 
natural man. Hence he concludes, that if God were a man, he 
must be as big as the universe ; and that if, as a Man, he gov- 
erns heaven and earth, he must do it by a multitude of lieuten- 
ants, as kings govern their distant provinces in the world. If 
he were told, that in heaven there is not extension of space.. 
such as exists in the world, he would not comprehend it : for he 
who thinks solely from nature and its light, can form no idea of 
any other sort of extension than such as is before his eyes. They 
are, however, exceedingly mistaken when they apply such ideas 
to heaven. The extension which there exists is not such as that 
in the world ; for extension, in the world, is determinate, and 
thence capable of being measured ; but extension, in heaven, is 
not determinate, and thence not capable of mensuration : but 
respecting extension in heaven see a subsequent Section, treat- 
ing of space and time in the Spiritual World. Besides, every 
one knows how amazingly far the sight of the eye can reach, 
even to the sun and the stars, of which the distances from ns 
are so enormous ; every one, also, who thinks deeply, is aware, 
that the internal sight, which is that of the thought, can reach 
still further ; and, consequently, that a sight still more interior 
must have a wider range still : what then can be beyond the 
reach of the Divine Sight, which is the inmost and highest of 
all ? Since the thoughts have such an extension, all things be- 
longing to heaven are communicated to every inhabitant ; con- 
sequently, all things belonging to the Divine Sphere which 
constitutes h'eaven, and fills it, are thus communicated — as 
shown in the preceding Sections. 

86. The inhabitants of heaven are astonished, that men shonld 
imagine themselves intelligent, wiiile they think of God as an 
invisible Being, that is, as incomprehensible under any form ; 
and that they should call those who think differently, not intel- 
ligent, and mere simpletons ; whereas the contrary is the truth. 
The angels say, " If such self-esteemed intelligent ones were to 
examine themselves, would they not find that they regard na- 
ture as God ? some of thgm, nature as existing before the sight, 
and some of them, nature in her invisible recesses ? And are 
they not blinded to such a degree, as not to know what God is, 
what an angel is, what a spirit, what their own soul which is to 
live after death, what the life of heaven in man ; with other sub- 
jects belonging to intelligence ? AVhen, nevertheless, those 
whom they call simpletons understand all these points in their 
own way. Of their God, they have an idea, that He is a Divine 
Being in a Human Form ; of an angel, that he is a heavenly 

*0 



66 ul:.iv: -rf. 

man; of their own soul wliicli is to live after death, that it is 
such a being as an angel ; and of the life of heaven in man, that 
it consists in living according to the divine commandments." 
These, therefore, the angels call intelligent, and fitted for heaven ; 
but the others, on the contrary, not intelligent.(^) 

(') Extracts from fhe Aecana C(elestia, respecting the Lord and respecting His Divine 
Ilnmanity. 

That the Lord liad a Divine Essence from conception itself, nn. 4641, 4968, 5041, 
5157, 6716, 10,125. That the Lord alone had Divine seed, n. 1438. That His soul 
was Jehovah, nn. 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025. That thus the inmost of the Lord 
was the Essential Divinity, and that the clothing was from the mother, n. 5041. That 
the Essential Divinity was the Esee of the Lord's life, from which the Humanity after- 
wards went forth, and was made the Existere from that Esse, nn. 3194, 8210, 10,870, 
10,872. 

That within the church, where the "Word is, and where, by it, the Lord is knowr^ 
the Divine Essence of the Lord ought not to be denied, nor the Holy Emanation pro- 
ceeding from him, n. 2359. That those within the church who do not acknowledge 
the Lord, have no conjunction with the Divine Being: it is otherwise with those who 
are out of the church, n. 10,205. That it is an essential of the church to acknowledge 
the Lord's Divinity, and Hig union with the Father, nn. 10,088, 10,112, 10,370, 10,738, 
10,730, 10,816, 10,817, 10,818, 10,820. 

That the subject treated of in the Word, in many passages, is the glorification of the 
Lord, n. 10,828. And that this subject is everywhere treated of in the internal sense 
of the Word, nn. 2249, 2523, 3245. That the Lord glorified His Humanity, and not 
His Divinity, because the latter was glorified in itself, n. 10,057. That the Lord came 
into the world that He might glorify His Humanity, nn. 3637, 4180, 9315. That the 
Lord glorified His Humanity by the Divine Love which was in Himself from con- 
ception, n. 4727. That the love of the Lord towards the universal human race was the 
life of the Lord in the world, n. 2253. That the Lord's love transcends all human un- 
derstanding, n. 2077. That the Lord saved the human race by glorifying His Hu> 
manity, nn. 4180, 10,019, 10,152, 10,655, 10,659, 10,828. That otherwise "the whole 
human race would have perished in eternal death, i^ 1676. Of the Lord's states ol 
glorification and humiliation, nn. 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866. That glorification, Avhere it 
is predicated of the Lord, denotes the uniting of His Humanity with His Divinity, and 
that to glorify is to make Divine, nn. 1603, 10,053, 10,828. That the Lord, when Ho 
glorified His Humanity, piit off all the humanitv derived from the mother, until ai 
length He was not her son, nn. 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10,880. 

That the Son of God from eternity was the Divine Truth in heaven, nn. (2628,) 
(2798,) 2803, 3195, 3704. That the Lord also made His Humanity Divine Truth frouj 
the Divine Good which was in Him, when lie was in the woi'ld, nm. 2803, 3194, 3195, 
8210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199. That the Lord at that time arranged 
all things appertaining to Himself into a celestial form, which is according to Divine 
Truth, nn. 1928, 8683. That on this account the Lord was called the Word, which is 
the Divine Truth, nn. 2588, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3898, 3712. _ That the Lord alone had 
perception and thought from Himself, and above all angelic perception and thought, 
an. 1904, 1914, 1919. 

That tlie Lord united the Divine Truth, which was Himself, with the Divine Good, 
which was in himself, nn. 10,047, 10,062, 10,076, That the union was reciprocal, 
nn, 2004, 10,067, That the Lord, when He departed from the world, made His Hu- 
manity also Divine Good, nn. 3191, 8210, 68G4, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10,076. That this is 
meant by His coming forth from the Father, and roturniny; to the Father, nn 3736, 
3210. That thus He was made One with the Father, nn. 2751, 3704. 4766. That since 
the union, the Divine Truth proceeds from the Lord, nn. 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 
7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398. In what minner tlie Divine Truth proceeds, illustrated, 
nn. 7270, 9407. That the Loi'd, from His own ]M'o]ier )M)wer, united the Humanity 
with the Divinity, nn. 1616, 1749, 1752, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 
6716. That hence it may be manifest, that the Humanity of the I^ord was not as the 
bumauity of another man, because he was conceived from the Divine Beiut; Himself, 
nn. 10,125, 10,826. That His union with the Father, from vnIioui He had His soul, 
was not like that between two persons, but like that between the soul and the bod}"-, 
nn. 3737, 10,824. 

That the most ancient people could not adore the Divine Esse, but the Divine Ex- 
i$tere., which is the Divine Humanity, and that the Lord therefore came into the world, 
tliat He might be made the Divine Exi^^t'Te from the Divine Esse, nr.. 4687, 5321. 
Ttiat tlie ancients acknowledged the Divine Being, because He appeared to Ihem in a 
human form, and that this was the Divine Humanity, nn. 5110, 5663, 6846, 10,737« 

40 



HEAVEN. 8? 



MAT THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ALL THINGS BE 
LONGING TO HEAVEN, AND ALL THINGS BELONGING TO MAN. 

87. It is unknown at this day what correspondence is. This 
Ignorance is owing to various causes ; the chief of which is, that 

that the Infinite Esse could not flow into heaven with the angels, nor with men, 
wxcept by or through the Divine Humanity, nn. (1646,) 1990, 2016, 2034. That in 
.'jeaven, no other Divine Being is perceived b'nt the I)ivine Humanity, nn. 6475, 9303, 
(9367,) 10,067. That the Divine Humanity from eternity was the Divine Trutli in 
heaven, and the Divine Emanation passing through heaven, thus the Divine Existere, 
which afterwards in the Lord was made the Divine Esse by Itself, from which is the 
Divine Existere in heaven, nn. 3061, 62S0, 6880, 10,579. What was the quality of the 
fctate of lieaven before the coming of the Lord, nn. 6371, 6372, 6373. That the Divine 
Emanation was not perceptible, except when it had passed through heaven, nn. 6982, 
6996, 7004. 

That the inhabitants of all the earths adore the Divine Being under a human form, 
thus the Lord, nn. 6700, 8541—8547, 10,736, 10,737, 10,738. That they rejoice when 
they hear that God was actually made a Man, n. 9361. That the Lord receives all who 
are in good, and who adore the Divine Being under a human form, n. 9359. That 
God cannot be thought of except in a human form, and tliat what is incompreliensible 
falls into no idea, thus is no object of faith, nn. 9359, 9972. That man is capable of 
worshipping what he has some idea of, but not what he has no idea of, nn. 4733, 5110, 
o633, 7211, 9356, 10,067. Tliat, therefore, by the generality in the universal terres- 
trial globe, the Divine Being is worshipped under a human form, and that this is the 
etfect of an influx from heaven, n. 10,159. That all who are principled in good as to 
life, when they think of the Lord, think of a Divine Humanity, and not of the Hu- 
manity separate from the Divinitv ; it is otherwise with those who are not principled 
in good as to life, nn. 2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193,^ 9198. That in tlie church at 
this day, those who are in evil as to life, also who are in faith separate from charity, 
think of the Humanity of the Lord without the Divinity, and likewise do not com- 
prehend what a Divine Humanitv is; and the reasons thereof, nn. 3212, 3241. 4689, 
4692, 4724, 4731, 5321, (6372,) 8878, 9193, 9198. That the Humanitv of the Lord is 
Divine, because from the £s.$e of the Father, which was His soul, iflustrated by the 
likeness of the father in the children, nn. 10,269, (10,372,) 10,823: and because it was 
from the Divine Love, which was the very Esse of His life from conception, n. 6872. 
That every man \& such as his love is, and that he is his own love, nn. 687^, 10,177, 
10,284. That the Lord made all the Humanitv, both internal and external, Divine, nn. 
I6u3, 1815, 1902, 1926, 2093, 2083. That, therefore. He rose again as to the whole 
body, differently from any man, nn. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10,825. 

That the Humanity of the Lord is Divine, is acknowledged from His omnipresence 
in the holy supper, nu. 2343, (2359,) and from His transfiguration before His tliree dis- 
ciples, n. 3212 : and also from the Word of the Old Testaaient, in which His Humanity 
is called God, n. 10,254; and is called Jehovah, nn. (1603,) 1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 
S035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864, 9194, 9315. That a distinction is made in the sense (rf 
the letter between the Father and the Sou, or between Jehovah and the Lord, but not 
in the internal sense of the Word, in which the angels of heaven are, n. 3035. That 
in the Christian world, the Humanity of the Lord has been acknowledged to be not 
Divine, and this was effected in a council for the sake of the Pope, that he might be 
acknowledged as his vicar, n. 4738. 

That Christians in the other life were explored as to the idea they held concerning 
one God, and that it was found that thev had an idea of three Gods, nn. 2329, 5256, 
10,736, 10,737, 10,738, 10,821. Tb^t a Trinity or Divine Trine, may be conceived of 
in one person, and thus one God, out not in three persons, nn. 10,738, 10,821, 10,824. 
That tiie Divine Trine in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven, nn. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 
5256, 9303. That the Trine in the Lord is the Essential Divinity, which is called the 
Father, the Divine Humanity, which is called the Son, and the Divine Proceeding, 
whi2ii is called the Holy Spirit; and that this Divine Trine is One, nn. 2149,2156, 
228S, 2321, 2329, 2447, 3704, 6993, 7182, 1A,738, 10,822, 10,823. That the Lord Him- 
self teaches that the Father and He are One, nn. 1729, 2004, 2005, 2in«, 2ii25,_ 2751, 
9>1<H:, 3736, 4766 ; and that the Holv Divine Emanation proceeds from Him, and is His, 
nu. S&89, 4673, 8788, 6993, 7499, 8i27, 8302, 9199, (9228,) 9229, 9270, 9407, 9813, 9829, 
10,33.;. 

Th.^t tne Divine Humanity flows into heaven, and constitutes heaven, n. 3038. 
That the Lor^ 'm the all in heaven, and that He is the life of heaven, nn. 7211, (9128.) 

41 



87, 88 HEAVEN. 

man has removed himself from heaven, thiough cherishing the 
love of self and of the world. For he that supremely loves him- 
self and the world, cares only for worldly things, because they 
soothe the external senses and are agreeable to his natural dis- 
position ; but has no concern about spiritual things, because 
these only soothe the internal senses, and are agreeable to the 
internal or rational mind. These, therefore, they cast aside, 
saying, that they are too high for man's comprehension. Not 
so did the ancients. With them, the science of correspondences 
was the chief of all sciences ; by means of its discoveries, also, 
they imbibed intelligence and wisdom ; and such of them aa 
belonged to the church had by it communication with heaven ; 
for the science of correspondences is the science of angels. 
The most ancient people, who were celestial men, absolutely 
thought from correspondence, as do the angels ; whence, also, 
they conversed with angels ; and whence, likewise, the Lord 
often appeared to them, communicating instruction. But, at 
the present day, that science is so utterly lost, that it is even 
unknown what correspondence is.(^) 

88. Without an apprehension of what correspondence is, not 
any thing can be clearly known respecting the spiritual world ; 
nor respecting its influx into the natural world ; nor, indeed^ 
respecting what that which is spiritual is, compared with that 
which is natural ; since, also, nothing can be cleajly known re- 
specting the spirit of man, which is called the soul, and its 
operation upon the body ; nor yet concerning the state of man 

That the Lord dwells in the angels in what is His own, nn. 9338, 10,125, 10,151» 
10,157. That hence those who are in heaven are in the Lord, nn.. 3637, 3638. That 
the conjunction of the Lord with the antjels is accordiniz: to the reception of the ecood 
of love'and of charity from Him, nn 904, 4198, 4205, 4211, 4220, (G280,) G832, 7042, 
8819, 9G80, 9682, 9683, (10,106,) (10,811.) That the universal heaven has reference 
to the Lf)r(l, nn. 551, 552. That the Lord is the ccmnton centre of heaven, nn. 3633. 
Tluit all ill heaven turn themselves to the Lord, who is aboye the heavens,, nn. 9828, 
10,130, 10,189. That nevertheless the angels do not turn themselves to the Lord, but 
the Lord turns them to Himself, n. 10,189. That there is not a presence of the angels 
with the Lord, but a presence of the Lord with the angels, n, 9415. That in heaven 
there is no conjunction with the Essential Divinitv, but with the IMvine Humanity, 
nn. 4211, 4724, (5633.) 

That heaven corresponds with the Divine Humanity of the Lord ; and that tbence 
heaven at large is as one man ; and that on this account heaven is called the Grand 
Man, nn. 2996, 2998, 3624—3649, 3741—3745, 4625. That the Lord is the Only Man, 
and those only are men who receive what is Divine from Him, n. 1894^ That so far as 
they receive, so far they are men, and not images of Him, n. 8547. That therefore th» 
sngels are forms of love and charitv in a human form, and that this is from the Lord, 
nn. 3304, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5o30, 9879, 10,177. 

That the universal heaven is the Lord's, nn. 2751, 7086. That He has all power 
in the lieivens and on eirch, nn. 16f>7, 10.089, 10,827. That the Lord rules the 
universal heaven, and that he also rules all things which thence ftepend, thus all 
things in the world, nn. 2026, 2027, 4523, 4524 That the Lord alone has the power of 
removing the hells, of withholding from evils, and of holding in good, thus of saving, 
n. 10,919. 

( ) How far the science of correspondences excels other sciences, n. 4280. That th« 
chief science amongst the ancients was the science of correspondences, but at this dav 
it is oblirerated, nn. 3024, 3419, 4280, 4749, 4844, 4964, 4966, 6004, 7729, 10,252. Tha< 
with the orientals, and in Egypt, the scieuGe of correspondenoc.8 floui'ished, nn. 5.10% 
6692, 7097, 7779, 9391, 10,407. 

42 



HEAVEN. 89 93 

after death : therefore it is necessary to show what correspond- 
ence is, arid what its nature : which, also, will prepare the way 
for what is to follow. 

89. It shall first be stated what correspondence is. The whole 
natural world corresponds to the spiritual world ; and not only 
the natural world collectively, but also in its individual parts : 
wherefore every object in the natural world existing from some- 
thing in the spiritual world, is called its correspondent. It is to 
be observed, that the natural world exists and subsists from tho 
spiritual world, just as the effect exists from its efficient cause. 
All that is called the natural world, which lies below the sun, 
and thence receives its heat and light ; and all the objects 
which thence subsist belong to that world : but the spiritual 
world is heaven ; and the objects of that world are all that are 
in the heavens. 

90. Since man is both a heaven and a world in miniature, 
formed after the image of heaven and the world at large (see 
above, n. 57), he, also, has belonging to him both a spiritual 
world and a natural world. The interiors, which belong to his 
mind, and have relation to his understanding and will, consti- 
tute his spiritual world ; but his exteriors, which belong to his 
body, and have reference to its senses and actions, constitute his 
natural world. Whatever, therefore, exists in his natural world, 
that is, in his body, w^ith its senses and actions, by derivation 
from his spiritual world, that is, from his mind, with its under- 
standing and will, is called its correspondent. 

91. The nature of correspondence may be seen from the face 
in man. In a countenance which has not been taught to dis- 
semble, all the afiections of the mind display themselves visibly, 
in a natural form, as in their type ; whence the face is called 
the index of the mind. Thus man's spiritual world shows itself 
in his natural world. In the same manner, the ideas of his 
understanding reveal themselves in his speech, and the deter- 
minations of his will in the gestures of his body. All things, 
therefore, which take effect in the body, whether in the coun- 
tenance, the speech, or the gestures.^ are called correspond- 
ences. 

92. From these observations may also be seen what the iii- 
ternal man is, and what the external ; or, that the internal is 
that which is called the spiritual man, and the external that 
which is called the natural man. Also, that the one is distinct 
from the other, as heaven is from the world ; and likewise, that 
all things which take eflect, and exist, in the external or natural 
man, so take eftect and exist from the internal or spiritual. 

93. Thus much respecting the correspondence between the 
internal or spiritual man, and the external or natural ; m what 
iollows we shall treat of the correspondence of the w]"»je <»i 
Leaven with all the individual parts of man. 

4<i 



M, 95 HEAVEN. 

J)4:, It has been shown, that the uni\'ersal heaven is as one 
man, and that it is in form a man, and is therefore called the 
Grand Man. It has also been shown, that the angelic societies, 
of which heaven consists, are hence arranged in the same order 
as tne members, organs, and viscera in man ; so that there are 
some that have their station in the head, some in the breast, 
some in the arms, and some in every distinct part of those 
members (see above, n. 59 — 72). The societies, therefore, which 
are in any member in heaven, correspond to the same member 
in man. For instance : the societies which are there in the 
head, correspond to the head in man : those which are there in 
the breast, correspond to the breast in man : those that are 
there in the arms, correspond with the arms in man : and so 
with the rest. It is from that correspondence that man sub- 
sists ; for man derives his subsistence solely from heaven. 

95. That heaven is divided into two kingdoms, one of which 
is called the celestial kingdom and the other the spiritual king- 
dom, has been shown in a particular Section, above. The 
celestial kingdom in general corresponds to the heart and to 
all the parts related to the heart in the whole body : and the 
spiritual kingdom corresponds to the lungs, and to all the parts 
in the whole body related to that organ. The heart and lungs^ 
also, constitute two kingdoms in man; for the heart reigns 
throughout his body by the arteries and veins, ana the lungs by 
the nervous and motive fibres ; both being concerned in every 
power he exercises, and in every action he performs. In the 
spiritual world of every man, which is called his spiritual man, 
there are also two kingdoms ; one being that of the will, and 
the other that of the understanding. The will reigns by means 
of the affections of good, and the understanding by means of 
the affections of truth. These kingdoms also correspond to the 
kingdoms of the heart and the lungs in the body. The like 
obtains in the heavens. The celestial kingdom is the will-prin- 
ciple of heaven ; and in that kingdom reigns the good of love : 
and the spiritual kingdom is the intellectual principle of heaven ; 
and what reigns in that kingdom is truth. These are the things 
v^hich correspond to the functions of the heart and lungs in 
man. It is in consequence of that correspondence, that tho 
heart, in the Word, signifies the will, and also the good of love ; 
and that the breath, which belongs to the lungs, signifies the 
understanding, and the truth of faith. Hence, also, it is, that 
it is usual to ascribe the- affections to the heart; though that is 
not their seat, nor do they flow from thence. (^) 

(2) Of the correspondence of Hie l)eart and lunus uiili tl e Grarid Man, which is 
heaven, from experience, nn. 388o — 3896. That the lieiil- c 'res])oiids to those who 
dwell in the celestial kini!;doiTi, but the lungs to those who dwell in the spiritual king- 
dom, nn. 8885, 3886, 3887. That in heaven there is a pulse like that of the heart, aiid 
a respiration like that of the Iuults, but more interior, nn. o^'84. 3885, 3887. That the 
p alse of the heart is various there according to the states of love ; and the respiration 

44 



HEAVEN. 96, 97 

96. The correspondence between the two kingdoms of heaven 
and the heart and lungs, is the most general correspondence 
between heaven and man. A less general one is that between 
heaven and the several members, organs, and viscera, of man ; 
the nature of which shall also be mentioned. 

In the Graiid Man, who is heaven, they that are stationed in. 
the head, are in the enjoyment of every good above all others : 
for they are in the enjoyment of love, peace, innocence, wisdom, 
and intelligence ; and thence of joy and happiness. These have 
an influx into the head, and into whatever appertains to the 
head, with man, and corresponds thereto. In the Grand Man, 
who is heaven, they that are stationed in the breast, are in the 
enjoyment of the good of charity and faith : their influx, also, 
with man, is into the breast ; to which they correspond. But, 
in the Grand Man, or heaven, they that are stationed in the 
loins, and in the organs belonging to generation therewith con- 
nected, are they who are eminently grounded in conjugial love. 
They who are stationed in the feet, are grounded in the ultimate 
good of heaven, which is called spiritual-natural good. They 
who are in the arms and hands, are in the power of truth de- 
rived from good. They who are in the eyes, are those eminent 
for understanding. They who are in the ears are in attention 
and obedience. They in the nostrils, are those distinguished 
for perception. They in the mouth and tongue, are such as 
excel in discoursing from understanding and perception. They 
in the kidneys, are such as are grounded in truth of a searching, 
distinguishing, and castigatory character. They in the liver, 
pancreas, and spleen, are grounded in the purification of good 
and truth by various methods. So with those in the other 
members and organs. All have an influx into the similar parts 
of man, and correspond to them. The influx of heaven takes 
place into the functions and uses of the members ; and their 
uses, being from the spiritual world, invest themselves with 
forms by means of such materials as are found in the natural 
world, and so present themselves in effects. Hence there is a 
correspondence between them. 

97. On this account it is, that by those same members, or- 
gans, and viscera, are signified, in the Word, such things as 
have just been mentioned ; for all things named in the Word 
have a signification according; to their correspondence. Hence, 
by the head is signified intelligence and wisdom ; by the breast, 
charity ; by the loins, conjugial love ; by the arms and hands, 
the power of truth ; by the eyes, understanding ; by the nos- 
trils, perception ; by the ears obedience ; by the kidneys, the 

acco'-crinu' to the states of chaviry and faith, nn. 3886, 3887, 3889. That the heart, in 
the Word, donotes the will, thus' that what is from the heart is from the will, mi. 2030, 
7542, 8910, 9113, 10,036 That the heart also, in the Word, signifies the love ; thui 
that what is done from the heart is done from the love, nn. 7542, 9050, 10,336. 

45 



98, 99 HEAVEN. 

purification of truth ; and so witli the rest.(^) Hence, alec, it ife 
usual to say in familiar discourse, when speaking of an intelli- 
gent and wise person, that he has a head ; when alluding to 
one who is influenced by charity, that he is a bosom friend ; of 
a person eminent for perception, that he has a good nose (or a 
sharp scent) ; of one distinguished for intelligence, that he is 
sharp-sighted : of one possessing great power, that he has long 
arms : of a person that speaks or acts from love, that he says or 
does it from his heart. These, and many other sayings in com- 
mon use, are derived from correspondence : for such forms of 
speech enter the mind from the spiritual world, though the 
speaker is not aware of it. 

98. That there exists such a correspondence between all 
tnings belonging to heaven and all things belonging to man, 
has been evinced to me by much experience — so much, indeed, 
as to convince me of it as of a thing self-evident, and not liable 
to any doubt. But to adduce all this experience here, is unne- 
cessary, and, on account of its abundance, would be inconve- 
uient. It may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia^ in the Sections 
on Correspondences, on Representations, on the Influx of the 
Soiritual World into the I:fatural, and on the Intercoui'se be 
tween the Soul and the Body.('*) 

9.9. But although there is a correspondence between mi things 
that belong to man, as to his body, and all things that belong 
to heaven, still man is not an image of heaven as to his external 
form, but as to his internal. For the interiors of man are re- 
cipient of heaven, and his exteriors are recipient of the world : 
in proportion, therefore, as his interiors receive heaven, the 
man is, as to them, a heaven in miniature, formed after the 
image of heaven at large : but in proportion as his interiors do 
not thus receive, he is not such a heaven, and such an image. 
Still his exteriors, which receive the world, may exist in a form 
which is according to the order of the world, possessing various 
degrees of beauty : for the causes of external beauty, which is 
that of the body, are derived from a person's parents, and from 

(3) That the breast, in the Word, signifies charity, nn. 3934, 10,081, 1C,0S7.- That 
the loins and organs of generation, signify conjugial love, nn. 8021, 4280, 4462, 5050, 
5051, 5052. That the arms and hands signify the power of truth, nn. 878, 3091, 4933 — 
4937, 6947, 7205, 10.019. That the feet signify the natural principle, nn. 2162, 3147, 
8761, 398P, 4280, 4938—4952. That the eye signifies the understanding, nn. 2701, 
4403-44^1, 4523—4534, 6923, 9051, 10,569. That the nostrils signify perception, nn. 
8577, 4624, 4625, 4748, 5621, 8286, 10,054, 10,292. That the ears signify obedience, nn. 
2542, 3869, 4523, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 8990_, 9311, 9397, 10,061. Thiit the reins or 
kidneys, signify the examination and correction of truth, nn. 5380 — 5386, 10,032. 

(*J Of the correspondence of all the members of the body with the Grand Man, or 
heayen, generally and specifically, from experience, nn. 302i, 3624 — 3649, 3741 — 3750, 
8883—3896, 4039—4055, 4218—4228, 4318—4331, 4403—4421, 4523—4534, 4622-^633, 
4652—4660, 4791-^805, 4931—4953, 5050—5061, 5171—5189, 5377—5396, 5552—5573, 
5711—5727, 10,030. Of the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world, or of 
heaven into the world ; and of the influx of the soul into all things of the body; from 
experience, nn. 6053—6058, 6189—6215, 6307—6327, 6460—6495, 6598—6626. Of the 
intercourse between the soul and body, from experience, nn. 6058 — 60..8, 6189— 6216| 
0? 17 "6327, 6466—6495, 6598—6626. 

46 



HEAVEA". 100—102 

his formation in the womb, and it is afterwards preserved by 
the common influx which the body receives from the world ; in 
consequence of which, the form of a person's natural man may 
difler exceedingly from that of his spiritual man. The form of 
certain persons, as to their spirit, has sometimes been shown 
me ; and in some, having fair and handsome faces, I have seen 
it to be deformed, black, and monstrous, so that you would pro 
nounce it an image of hell, not of heaven ; whereas in some, not 
outwardly handsome, I have seen it to be beautiful, fair, and 
like that of an angel. The spirit, also, of a man, after death, 
appears the same as it had been in the body, while he lived, so 
clothed, in the world. 

100. But correspondence reaches much further than to man ; 
for there is a correspondence between all the heavens respec- 
tively. To the third or inmost heaven corresponds the second 
or middle heaven ; and to the second or middle heaven corre- 
sponds the first or ultimate. To the first or ultimate heaven also 
correspond the forms of man's body, called its members, organs, 
and viscera. Thus the corporeal part of man is that in which 
heaven ultimately closes, and upon which, as on its base, it rests. 
But this arcanum wdll be more largely explained elsewhere. 

101. But it is most necessary to be known, that all the cor 
respondence which any thing has with heaven, is with the 
Lord's Divine Humanity ; for heaven is from Him, and He is 
heaven, as has been shown in the Sections preceding : for unless 
the Divine Humanity entered by influx into all things belonging 
to heaven, and, by correspondences, into all things belonging to 
the world, there could be no such beings as either angels or 
men. Hence it further appears, why the Lord was made Man, 
and clothed His Divinity with Humanity from first to last : the 
reason was, because the Divine Humanity from which heaven 
subsisted before the coming of the Lord, was no longer adequate 
to the support of all things, because man, who is the base of the 
heavens, fell away, and destroyed the order according to which 
they were established. What, and of what nature the Divine 
Humanity was which existed before the Lord's coming, and 
what was the state of heaven at that time, may be seen in the 
extracts from the Arcana Codestia referred to at the end of the 
preceding chapter. 

102. The angels are amazed when they hear that men are to 
be found who ascribe every thing to nature and nothing to the 
Divine Being ; and who also believe that their body, w^hich 
displays so many wonders of heavenly origin, is fashioned by 
nature ; and still more, that man's rational faculty also is de- 
rived from the same source ; although, if they would elevate 
their minds ever so little, they might see that such wonders are 
derived from the Divine Being, and not from nature ; and that 
nature was only created to clothe what is spiritual, and to prt* 



103—106 ' HEAVEN. 

sent it in a corresponding form in the ultimate sphere of order 
Such persons thej compare to owls, which see in the dark, and 
not at all in the light. 



THAT THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HEAVEN i N"D 
ALL THINGS BELONGING TO THE EARTH. 

103. What correspondence is has been explained in the pre 
ceding Section ; where it also was shown that all the parts of 
the animal body, both generally and individually, are corre- 
spondences. It follows in order to show now, that all things 
belonging to the earth, and in general, all things in the world, 
are correspondences. 

104. All things that belong to the earth are divided into three 
general kinds, which are called so" many kingdoms. There is 
the animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the mineral 
kingdom. The objects of the animal kingdom are correspond- 
ences in the first degree, because they live : those of the vege- 
table kingdom are correspondences in the second degree, be- 
cause they only grow : and those of the mineral kingdom are 
correspondences in the third degree, because they do neither. 
Correspondences in the animal kingdom are animated creatures 
of various kinds, both such as walk and creep on the ground, 
and such as fly in the air; which it is needless to mention spe- 
cifically, because they are well known. Correspondences in the 
vegetable kingdom are all such things as grow and flourish in 
gardens, woods, corn-fields, and meadows ; which, likewise, it is 
unnecessary to name specifically, because they also are well 
known. Correspondences in the mineral kingdom are all met- 
als, both the more noble and the more base, precious and com- 
mon stones, and earths of various kinds ; not excluding water. 
Besides these products of nature, those things also are corre- 
spondences which the industry of man prepares or manu- 
factures from them for his own use ; such as food of all kinds, 
garments, houses, public edifices, and similar objects. 

105. The objects which arf stationed above the earth, such as 
the sun, moon, and stars ; also those that are seen in the atmos- 
phere, such as clouds mists, rain, thunder, and lightning ; all 
likewise are correspondences. Those which proceed from the 
Sim, and tiis presence or absence, as light and shade, heat and 
cold, are also correspondences ; together with those which 
thence exist successively ; like the seasons of the year, which 
Bre called spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; and the times 
of the day, or morning, noon, evening, and night. 

106. In a word, all things that exist in nature, from its mi- 
48 



HEAVEN. 107, 108 

niitest parts to its greatest, are corresponclences.(') The reason 
that they are correspondences is, because the natural world, 
with all that belongs to it, derives its existence and subsistence 
from the spiritual world; and both from the Divine Being. 
Subsistence is mentioned as well as existence, because every 
thing has its subsistence from the same source as its first exist- 
ence, subsistence being perpetual existence ; and because, also, 
nothing can exist from itself, but only from something prior to 
itself, and thus, originally, from the First Cause ; from which, 
therefore, were it to be separated, it would utterly perish, and 
disappear. 

107. Every object is a correspondent, which exists and sub- 
sists in nature from Divine Order. That which constitutes 
Divine Order is the Divine Good which proceeds from the 
Lord : it commences from Him ; it proceeds from Him through 
the heavens in succession into the world, and is there termina- 
ted in ultimates. The things which exist in the world accord- 
ing to order are correspondences. All things there exist ac- 
cording to order, when they are good, and perfectly adapted to 
their intended use ; for every thing good is such according to its 
use : its form has relation to truth, because truth is the form of 
good. Hence it is that all things in the whole world, and par- 
taking of the nature of the world, w^hich are in divine order, 
have relation to good and truth. (^ 

108. That all things found in the world exist from a Divine 
Origin, and are clothed with natural elements so as to exist 
and perform their use in that sphere, and thus to be in corre- 
spondence, is manifest from every thing 'that is seen both in the 
animal and in the vegetable kingdom. In both are things 
which every one may see, if he thinks from an interior ground, 
are from heaven. To illustrate this, out of the innumerable in- 
stances that present themselves, a few shall be mentioned. To 
begin with some from tlie Animal Kingdom. 

What wonderful knowledge is, as it were, inherent in every 
animal, is known to many. The bees know how to gather honey 
from flowers, to build cells of wax in which to lay it up in store, 
and thus to provide food for themselves and their associates 
against the coming winter. Their female lays her eggs, and the 
others wait upon her, and cover them up, to give birth to a new 

r^) That all things which exist in the world, and in its three kingdoms, correspond 
to lieavenly things which exist in heaven ; or that the tilings which exist in the natu 
ral world correspond to those which exist in the spiritual, nn. 1632, 1881, 2758, 2760— 
2763, 2987—3003, 3213—3227, 3483, 3624—3639, 4044, 4053, 4115, 4366, 4939, 5116, 5377, 
542S, 5477, 9230. Th-vt by correspondences the natural world is conjoined to the spi- 
ritual world, n. 8615. That hence, universal nature is a theatre representative of the 
Lord's kingdom, nn. 2758, 2999, 3000, 3483, 3518, 4939, (8848,) 9280. 

('•') That all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, which exist 
according to order, have relation to good and truth, nn. 2452, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 
7256, 10,122. And to the conjunction of both, that they have a real existence, n. 
10,555. 

4 49 



lOS, 109 HEAYEN 

generation. They live under a certain form of government, 
with v^hich all in the hive are instinctively acquainted. They 
2)reserve the useful members of the community, and turn out 
the useless ones, depriving them of their wings. Not to men- 
tion other wonderful things ; all which they derive from heaven, 
on account of their use ; for their wax serves man for candles 
in all parts of the world, and their honey sweetens his food. 
What can surpass the wonders displayed in caterpillars, which 
are among the lowest productions of the animal kingdom ? 
They know how to nourish themselves with the juice of the par- 
ticular kinds of leaves suited to their nature, and, after com- 
pleting this stage of their existence, to wrap themselves up in a 
covering, and deposit themselves, as it were, in a womb, and so 
to produce an ofispring of their own kind. Some are first meta- 
morphosed into nymphs and chrysalises, spin a ball of thread, 
and, when their toil is ended, are adorned with a different body, 
are decorated with wings, fly in the air as in their proper heaven, 
celebrate their marriages, lay their eggs, and provide for them- 
selves a posterity. Besides these specific instances, all the fowls 
of the air in general know the food proper for their nourishment, 
and not only what it is, but also where it is to be found ; they 
know how to form their nests, every species in a mode peculiar 
to itself, to lay their eggs in them, to sit on them, to hatch their 
young, to nourish them, and when to drive them away to take 
care of themselves. They also know what enemies they have 
to shun, and what friends to associate with ; and all from their 
very infancy. ]^ot to mention the wonders observable in their 
eggs themselves, in which are prepared, and arranged in due 
order, all things that are requisite for the formation and nourish- 
ment of the embryo chick. With innumerable things besides. 
What person who thinks from any degree of rational wisdom 
will ever pretend to say, that such instincts can proceed from 
any other origin than the spiritual world, to which the natural 
world serves for clothing what thence proceeds with a body, or 
for presenting in effect, that which is spiritual in its cause? 
The reason that the animals of the earth, and the fowls of the 
air, come into all this knowledge by birth, whereas man does 
not, whose nature, nevertheless, is so much superior to theirs, is, 
because animals exist in the order of their life, and have not 
been able to destroy that which is in them from the spiritual 
world, because they have no rational faculty. But with man, 
who thinks from the spiritual world, it is different. Because he 
has perverted in himself what he receives thence by a life con- 
trary to order, which his rational faculty favors, he cannot but 
be born into mere ignorance ; whence he is afterwards to be 
brought back, by divine means, into the order of heaven. 

109. How the objects that are found in the Vegetable King- 
dom exist in correspondence, may appear from many paiticulars. 
50 



HEAVEX. 109,110 

As, for instance, that sucli minute seeds grow into trees, which 
put forth leaves, produce blossoms, and at last fruit, in which 
thej deposit new seeds ; and that these effects take place suc- 
cessively, and at last exist together in such admirable order, as 
is impossible to be described in few words. It would retjuire 
volumes to do it justice ; and still the interior arcana, which are 
in nearer connection wi1;h their uses, are such as science can 
never exhaust. Since these things also proceed from the spirit- 
ual world, or from heaven, which is in the form of a man (as 
shown above in its proper Section), every individual thing in 
that kingdom has also a certain relation to somethino^ that be- 
longs to man ; a fact which is known to some of the learned. 
That all things which exist in that kingdom also are correspond- 
ences, has been made evident to me by much experience. For 
when I have been in gardens, and have noticed the trees, fruits, 
flowers, and herbs, I have often perceived their correspondences 
in heaven, and have conversed with those in and about whom 
those correspondences existed, and have been instructed respect- 
ing whence they were and what was their quality. 

110. But to know the spiritual things in heaven to which the 
natural things in the world correspond, is at this day possible to 
none except by instruction from heaven ; because the science 
of correspondences is at this day utterly lost. I will, however, 
illustrate what is the nature of the correspondence between 
spiritual things and natural, by some examples. 

The animals of the earth, in general, correspond to affections, 
the tame and useful animals corresponding to good affections, 
and the fierce and useless kinds to evil affections. In particular, 
oxen and bullocks correspond to the affections of the natural 
mind ; sheep and lambs to the affections of the spiritual mind ; 
and birds or winged creatures, according to their species, corre- 
spond to the intellectual faculties and exercises of both minds.(^) 
Hence it is that various animals, as oxen, bullocks, rams, sheep, 
she-goats, he-goats, and male and female lambs, also pigeons 
and doves, were employed in the Israelitish Church, which was 
a representative one, for holy uses, it being of them that the 
sacrifices and burnt-offerings consisted ; for when so employed, 
they corresponded to certain spiritual things, and were under- 
stood in heaven according to their correspondences. Animals, 
also, according to their genera and species, actually are affec- 
tions ; the reason of which is, because they live ; and nothing 

(') That animals, from correspondence, signify affections, the tame and useful 
animals good affections, and the savage and useless ones evil affections, nn. 45, 46, 
142, 148, 246, 714, 715, 719, 2179, 2180, 3519, 9280: illustrated by experience from the 
spiritual world, nn. 3218, 5193, 9090. Of the influx of the spiritual -world into the 
lives of beasts, nn. 1633, 3646. That oxen and bullocks, from correspondence, signify 
the affections of the natural mind, nn. 2180, 2566, 9391, 10,132, 10,407. What sheep 
signifv, nn. 4169, 4S09. What lambs, nn. 3994, 10,132. That winged animals signi^ 
things intellectual, nn. 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 988, 991, 5149, 7441 ; with a variety ac- 
cording to their genera and species ; from experience from the spiritual world, n. 3219 

51 



110, 111 HEAVEN. 

can have life, except from aifection, and according to it. Hence, 
likewise, it is, that every animal possesses an innate knowledge 
according to the affection of its life. Man, too, as to his natural 
man, is like the animals ; wherefore, also, it is usual to compare 
him to them in common discourse. Thus a man of mild dis- 
position is called a sheep or a lamb ; a man of rough or fierce 
temper is called a bear or a wolf; a ci'aftj person is termed a 
fox or a snake ; and so in other instances. 

111. There is a similar correspondence with the objects of the 
vegetable kingdom. A garden in general corresponds to heaven 
as to intelligence and wisdom ; wherefore heaven is called (in 
the Word) the garden of God, and paradise(*), and is also 
named by man, the heavenly paradise. Trees, according to 
their species, correspond to perceptions and knowledges of good 
and truth, from which are procured intelligence and wisdom. 
Therefore it was that the ancients, who were skilled in the sci- 
ence of correspondences, celebrated their sacred worship in 
groves (^) ; and hence it is that, in the Word, trees are so often 
mentioned, and heaven, the church, and man, are compared to 
them, as to the vine, the olive-tree, the cedar, and others ; and 
good works are compared to fruits. The various kinds of food, 
also, which are obtained from them, especially those from grain, 
correspond to affections of good and truth, because these sus- 
tain man's spiritual life, as earthly food sustains his natural 
life(^). Hence bread, in general, corresponds to the affection 
of all good, because it supports life better than other aliments ; 
and because by bread is meant all food whatever. On accoui»^ 
of this correspondence, also, the Lord calls Himself the bread 
of life ; and for the same reason loaves were applied to a sacred 
use in the Israelitish Church, being placed upon the table in 
the tabernacle and called the shew-bread : and hence, likewise, 
all the divine worship performed by sacrifices and burnt-ofier- 
ings, was called bread. On account, also, of this correspond- 
ence, the most holy solemnity of worship in the Christian 
Church is the holy supper, the elements used in which are 
bread and wineQ. From these few examples the nature of 
correspondence may be seen. 

(*) That a garden and a paradise, from correspondence, signify intelligence and wis- 
dom, nn. 100, 108; from experience, n. 8220. That all things which correspond, sig- 
nify also the same things in the Word, nn. 2896, 2987, 2989,' 2990, 2991, 3002, 3225. 

(*) That trees signify perceptions and knowledges, nn. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 
7692. That therefore the ancients celebrated divine worship in groves under trees, 
according to their correspondences, nn. 2722, 4552. Of the influx of heaven into the 
BMbjects of the vegetable kingdom, as into trees and plants, n. 3648. 

(^) That meats, from correspondence, signify such things as nourish spiritual life, 
uu. 3114, 4459, 4792, 4976, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 
5915, 6277, 8562, 9003. 

C) That bread signifies all the srood which nourishes the spiritual life of man, nn. 
2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545, 10,686. That the 
bread, whicli was on the table in the tabernacle, had a like signification, nn. 3478, 
9545. That the sacrific ;s in general were called bread, n. 2165. That bread involves 

52 



HEAVEN. 112, 113 

112. How conjunction between heaven and the world is ef- 
fected by correspondences, shall also be briefly explained. 

The Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of ends, which are uses; or, 
what amounts to the same, is a kingdom of uses, which are 
ends. On this account, the universe was so created and formed 
by the Divine Being, as that uses might everywhere be invest- 
ed with such coverings, as to be presented in act or effect, first, 
in heaven, and afterwards, in the world ; and should thus be 
manifested by degrees, and in succession, even to the ultimates 
of nature. It hence is evident, that the correspondence between 
natural things and spiritual, or between the world and heaven, 
exists through uses, and that uses are what conjoin them ; also, 
that the forms with which uses are clothed, are correspondences, 
and mediums of conjunction, so far as they are forms of uses. 
In the natural world, and its three kingdoms, all things that 
exist according to divine order are forms of uses, or are effects 
formedy)'6>;?^ use/br use; and thus they all are correspondences. 
In man, however, so far as he lives according to divine order, 
thus in the love of the Lord and his neighbor, his actions are 
uses in form, and are correspondences, by which he is conjoined 
with heaven. To love the Lord and the neighbor is, in general, 
to perform uses.(^) It is to be observed, further, that man is 
the being through whom the natural w^orld is conjoined witli 
the spiritual, or that he is the medium of such conjunction. 
For both the natural world and the spiritual world exist in 
him (see above, n. 57) : wherefore, so far as he is a spiritual 
man, he is a medium of such conjunction ; but so far as he is 
only a natural man, and not also a spiritual man, he is not such 
a medium. But, nevertheless, the Divine influx continues to 
flow into the world, independently of the mediation of man, 
and even into the elements appertaining to him which are de- 
rived from the world ; but not into his rational faculty. 

113. As all things that exist according to divine order corre- 
spond to heaven, so all things that exist in contrariety to divine 
order correspond to hell. All those which correspond to heaven, 

all food, n. 2165. Thus that it signifies all food, celestial and spiritual, nn. 2T6, 680, 
2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410. 

(^) That all good has its delight from uses, and according to uses, and likewise its 
(Quality ; hence, such as the use is, such the good, nn. 8049, 4984, 7038. That angelic 
life consists in the goods of love and of charity, thus in performing uses, n. 454. That 
nothing is regarded by the Lord, and thence*^ by the angels, but the ends, which are 
uses, appertaining to man, nn. 1817, 1645, 5949." That the kingdom of the Lord is a 
kingdom of uses, thus of ends, nn. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038. That to serve 
the Lord is to perform uses, n. 7038. That all things in man, to every particular, 
are formed for_use,_nn. (3565,) 4104, 5189, 9297 ; and "that they are formed from use; 
thus, that use is prior to the organic forms in man by which use is effected, because 
::se exists from the influx of the Lord through heaven, nn. 4228, 4926. That the in- 
teriors of man also, which belong to his mind, as he grows up to maturity, are formed 
from use and for use, nn. 1964, 6815, 9297. That hence, man is of such a quality as are 
the uses appertaining to him, nn. 1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 10,284. That uses 
are the ends, for the sake of which the actions are performed, nn. 3565, 4054, 4104. 
8?15. That use is the first and last, thus the all of man, n. 1964. 

53 



114, 115 heayejS'. 

have relation to good and truth; "but those which coi res pond tu 
hell, have relation to evil and falsity. 

114:. Something shall now be ofiered respecting the science oi 
correspondences, and its use. 

It has been stated above, that the spiritual world, which is 
heaven, is conjoined with the natural world by correspondences ; 
by which, therefore, man has communication with heaven. For 
the angels of heaven do not think from natural things, as man 
does : wherefore, when man is grounded in the science of cor- 
respondences, he may be in consort with the angels as to the 
thoughts of his mind, and so be conjoined with them as to his 
spiritual or internal man. In order that there might exist a 
conjunction between heaven and man, the Word was written by 
pure correspondences. All its contents, to the most minute par- 
ticulars, are in such correspondence :(^) wherefore, if man were 
skilled in the science of correspondences, he would understand 
the Word as to its spiritual sense, and would thence be enabled 
to obtain a knowledge of arcana, of which nothing is to be seen 
in the literal sense. For, in the Word, there is both a literal 
sense and a spiritual sense. The literal sense is composed of 
such ideas as exist in the world, but the spiritual sense of such 
as exist in heaven : and since the conj unction between heaven 
and the world is the result of correspondences, therefore a Word 
was given of such a kind, as that every particular contained in 
it, even to the minutest iota, should have its correspondence. (^^) 

115. I have been instructed from heaven, that the most an- 
cient natives of our earth, who were celestial men, thought from 
correspondences themselves, and that the natural objects of the 
world, which they had before their eyes, served them as me- 
diums for such contemplations ; and that, as being of such a 
character, they enjoyed consociation' with the angels, and held 
conversation with them ; so that, through them, heaven was con- 
joined with the world. On this account, that period was 
called the golden age ; respecting which it is related by ancient 
writers, that the inhabitants of heaven then dwelt with men, 
and conversed with them familiarly, as friends with their friends. 
But after those times, another race arose, who, as I have been 
informed, did not think from correspondences themselves, but 
from the science of correspondences ; and that then also existed 
a conjunction of heaven with man, but not of so intimate a kind. 
The period when these flourished was called the silver age. An- 
other race still succeeded, who possessed, indeed, a knowledge 
of correspondences, but did not think from the science of them, 

(') That the Word was written bv pure correspondences, n. 8615. That by the 
Word, man has conjunction with heaven, nn. 2899, 6943, 9396, 9400, 9401, 10,375, 
10,452. 

("*) Eespectin^ the spiritual sense of the Word, see the small "work on the Whita 
ilorse mentioned in the Apocalypse (now printed at the end of the Doctrine of ihd 
Nevj Jerusalem respecting the Sacred Scrij)ture). 

51 



HEAVEN. 116, 117 



by reason that they vvere only grounded in natural good, and 
not in the spiritual, like their predecessors. The period of these 
was called the age of brass (or copper). After these ages had 
passed away, man, I have been instructed, became, in succes- 
sion, external, and at last corporeal ; and that then the science 
of correspondences became utterly extinct, and with it, knowl- 
edge respecting heaven, and most things belonging to it. Their 
naming those ages from gold, silver, and brass (or copper), (^') 
also had its ground in correspondence ; for gold, by correspond- 
ence, signifies celestial good, being the good in which the most 
ancient'race were grounded; but silver signifies spiritual good, 
being that which formed the character of the ancients who suc- 
ceeded them: brass (or cupper) signifies natural good, being 
that of their next posterity. But iron, from which the last age 
took its name, signifies hard truth without good. 



OF THE SUX IX HEAVEN. 

116. In heaven, the sun of this world is not to be seen, nor 
any thing which thence exists, the whole of which is natural. 
For nature commences from that sun, and whatever it produces 
is denominated natural. But that which is spiritual, in the 
sphere of which heaven exists, is above nature, and is entirely 
distinct from that which is natural ; nor is there any communi- 
cation between them, except by correspondences. The nature 
of the distinction between them may be comprehended from 
what was delivered above respecting degrees (n. 38) ; and the 
nature of the communication between them, from what is stated 
in the two preceding Sections respecting correspondences. 

117. But although the sun of this world is not seen in heaven, 
nor any thing which exists from it ; it nevertheless is true, that 
in heaven there is a sun, that there is light, that there is heat, 
and all things that are seen in the world, with innumerable 
others : only, they are not from the same origin : for all the 
things which exist in heaven are spiritual, whereas those in the 
world are natural. The sun of heaven is the Lord,* the light 

(") That gold, from corrertpondenee, sigrnifies celestial good, nn. 113, 1551, 1552, 
6658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 987-i, 9S81. That silver signifies spiritual good, or truth from 
a celestial origiii, un. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658. That copper signifies natural good, nn. 
425, 1551. That iron signifies truth in the ultimate of order, nn. 425, 426. 

* This statement is not to be understood too strictly, as if the Lord Himself were 
ttiat sun. It has been sliown above, in a particular Section (nn. 78 — 86"), that heaven 
is in the form of a man, because the Lord is in that form, or because " God is a Man" 
(n. 85) : and it is stated below (n. l'21\ that "the Lord in person is encompassed with 
the sun^'''' thus, is not that sun Himself. As to suppose this would be a dangerous 
error, the Author sometimes cautions the reader against falling into it; as in the fol- 
lowing passage : " He Himself is not that sun ; but divine love and divine wisdom, 
in their proximate emanation from Him, and round about Him, appear as a sun before 

55 



117, 118 IIEAYEN. 

there is Divine Truth, and the heat there is Divine Good, which 
proceed from the Lord as a sun. It is from that origin that all 
things proceed which exist and appear in heaven. But the light 
and heat, with the things thence existing, in heaven, will be 
treated of in the following Sections ; tliis Section shall be de- 
voted to the sun which there shines. The reason that the Lord 
appears in heaven as a sun, is, because it is from Divine Love 
that all spiritual things exist, and, bv means of the sun of the 
natural world, all natural things likewise. It is that Love which 
shines as a sun. 

118. That the Lord actually appears in heaven as a sun, 
has not only been told me by the angels, but it has also, 
sometimes, been granted me to see. What, therefore, I have 
heard and seen of the Lord as a sun, I will here briefly de- 
scribe. 

The Lord appears as a sun, not in heaven, but far above the 
heavens ; nor yet over head, or in the zenith, but before the 
faces of the angels, in a medium altitude. He appears at a 
great distance, in two situations, one before the right eye, and 
the other before the left. Before the right eye. He appears ex- 
actly like a sun, as if of the same sort of fire, and of the same 
magnitude, as the sun of this world : but before the left eye He 
does not appear as a sun, but as a moon, of similar but more 
brilliant whiteness, and of similar magnitude, with the moon of 
our earth ;* only it appears surrounded with many smaller 
moons, as it were, each of which is similarly white and brilliant. 
The reason that the Lord appears, with this difference, in two 
situations, is, because He appears to every one according to the 
nature of the party's reception of Him, thus differently to those 
who receive Him in the good of love and to those who receive 
Him in the good of faith. To those who receive Him in the 
good of love, He appears as a sun, fiery and flaming, according 
to their reception. These are the subjects of His celestial king- 
dom. But to those who receive Him in the good of faith. He 
appears as a moon, white and brilliant, according to their re- 

the angels. Himself, in the sun, is a Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, both with respect 
to the all-originating Divinity, and with respect to the Divine Humanity." — {True 
Christian Belicfion^ n. 25). — iVt 

* It is not to be supposed, from what is here said, that the Lord appears both as a 
sun and as a moon to the same angels ; still less that, as a moon, he appears not more 
bright than the moon in the world. The two appearances are described as those of a 
sun and moon respectively, because they bear the same relation to each other as do 
those two natural luminaries; but, in reality, to those by Avhom the Lord is said to be 
seen as a moon, that moon is their sun, and is so denominated by the author in some 
of his other works. To the angels of the celestial kingdom, the Lord appears as a 
sun, of a glowing hrightness, of which no conception can be formed by our natural 
ideas; and it is seen by them rather towards the right, or before the riglit eye: and 
to the angels of the spiritual kingdom lie also appears as a sun, far exceeding in radi- 
ance the sun of this world, though, compared to the sun seen by the celestial angels, 
this s'jn is onlv as a moon ; and it appears rather towards the left, or before the left 
eye of those who behokl it. V^'ith this explanation in the miud, all that is sai<l above, 
and ii what follows, will be easily understood. — N. 

66 



HEAVEN. 118, 119 



ception. These are the subjects of His spiritual kingdorn.(') 
The reason is, because the good of love corresponds to lire, 
whence fire, in the spiritual sense, is love ; and the good of 
faith corresponds to light, and light, also, in the spiritual sense, 
is faith. (2) The reason that He appears before their eyes, is, 
because the interiors, which belong to the mind, see through the 
eyes ; from the good of love through the right eye, and irom 
the good of faith through the left.(^) For all things that are on 
the right side, both in angels and men, correspond to the good 
from which proceeds truth ; and those on the left, to truth which 
is derived from good.('*) The good of faith is, in its essence, 
truth derived from good. 

119. It is on this account, that, in the Word, the Lord, with 
respect to love, is compared to the sun, and with respect to faith, 
to the moon ; and also that love, derived from the Lord and 
directed to Him, is signified by the sun, and faith, similarly de- 
rived and directed, by the moon ; as in these places : '' The light 
of the moon shall he as the light of the sun^ and the light of the 
81UI shall he seven folds as the light of seven days''', — (Isa. xxx. 26.) 
" When I shall put thee out^ I will cover the heaven^ and onake 
the stars thereof daric: I vnll cover the sun with a cloudy and 
the tnoon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heav- 
en will I make dark over thee^ and set darkness upon thy landP — 
(Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8.) " The sun shall he darkened in his going 
forth^ and the moon shall not cause her light to shineP — (Isa. 
xiii. 10.) " The sun and moon shall he dark^ and the stars shall 
withdraw their shining. — The sun shall he turned into darkness^ 
and the iifwon into hlood^ — (Joel ii. 10, 31 ; iv. 15.) " The sun 
became hlach as sackcloth of hair^ and the moon hecarne as hlood : 
and tJie stairs of heaven fell into the earthP — (Rev. vi. 12, 13.) 
^' Immediately after the trihulation of those days^ the sun shall 
he darkened^ and the moon shall not give Iter lights and the stars 
ehaU fall from heaven^ — (Matt. xxiv. 29.) And in other places. 

(*) That the Lord appears in heaven as a sun, and that He is the sun of lieaven, nn. 
1053, 36.86, 3643, 4060. That the Lord appears to those who dwell in the celestial 
kingdom, where love to Him is the ruling love, as a sun, and to those who dwell in 
the spiritual kingdom, where eharitv towards the neighbor and faith bear rule, as a 
moon, nn. 1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 1837, 4060. That the Lord, as a sun, appears at a 
middle altitude before the ri^ht eve, and as a moon, before the left eye, nn. 1053, 
1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 3636, 3643, 4321, 5097, 7078, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8812, i0,809. Thiit 
the Lord has been seen as a sun and as a moon by me, nn. 1531, 7i73. That the 
Lord's Essential Divinity is far above His Divine Sphere in heaven, nn. 7270, 8760. 

('■')' That fire, in the Word, signifies love in each sense, nn. 934, 4906, 5215. That 
Bacred or heavenly fire signifies divine love, nn. 934, 6314, 6832. That infernal fire sig- 
nifies the love of self and of the world, and every concupiscence which belongs to those 
loves, nn. 1861, 5071, 6314, 6832, 7575, 10,747. That love is the fire of life, and that 
the life itself is actually thenee derived, nn. 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314. That light si:jr- 
aifies the truth of faith, nn. (3395,) 3485, 3636, 3643, 8093, 4302, 4413, 4415, 9548, 9684. 

('; That the sight of the left^eye corresponds to the truths of faith, and that the sight 
of the right eye corresponds to their goods, nn. 4410, 6923, 

(*) That the parts and things which are on a man's right side have reference to good 
frojju wliich truth is derived ; and that tlie pai!;s ajxd things on the left side have refef- 
«nce to truth derived from good, nn, 9495. 9&0i- 

57 



120, 121 HEAVEN. 

In these passages, by tlie sun is signified love, by the moon, 
faith, and by the stars, the knowledges of good and truth ;{^) 
which are said to be darkened, to lose their light, and to fall 
from heaven, when they exist no longer. That the Lord is seen 
in heaven as a sun, is also evident from His appearance when 
He was transfigured before Peter, James, and John ; on whicli 
occasion it is related, that " His face did shine ccs the sun''' 
(Matt. xvii. 2). When the Lord was thus seen by those disciples, 
they were withdrawn from the body, and were in the light of 
heaven. Hence it was, that the ancients, who belonged to the 
representative church, when in divine worship, turned their faces 
towards the sun in the east : and it is from them that the custom 
is derived of building churches with eastern aspect. 

120. How^ immense, and of what nature the Divine Love is, 
may be inferred from comparing it with the sun of this world. 
From such comparison it will be seen, that it is of the most 
ardent description : in reality, if you can believe the assertion, 
its ardency is much greater than the heat of that sun. On this 
account, the Lord, as a sun, does not flow into heaven immedi- 
ately, but the ardency of His love is tempered, by degrees, in 
the w^ay. The tempering mediums appear like radiant belts 
around the sun ; in addition to which, the angels are veiled over 
with a thin suitable cloud, that they may not be injured by the 
influx.(^) Thus, also, the heavens are situated at distances from 
the sun proportioned to the angels^ capacities of reception. The 
superior heavens, being grounded in the good of love, are near- 
est to the Lord as a sun : and the inferior heavens, being in the 
good of faith, are more remote from that sun : but they who are 
grounded in no good at all, like the inhabitants of hell, are very 
remote indeed, and this in proportion to the degree of their op- 
position to good.C') 

121. When, however, the Lord appears in heaven, which 
often occurs, he does not appear clothed with the sun, but in an 
angelic form, distinguished from the angels by the Divinity 
which is translucent from his countenance- For He is not there 



(') That constellations and stars, m the Word, signify the knowledges of good and 
truth, nn. 2495, 2849, 4697. 

(") The nature and degree of the divine love of the Lord illustrated bv comparison 
with the fire of the sun of the world, nn. 6834, (6844,) 6849. That the divine love of 
the Lord is love towards all the human race, desiring to save them, nn. 1820, 1865, 
2253, 6872. That the love proximately proceeding from the fire of the Lord's love does 
not enter heaven, but that it appears around the sun as radiant belts, n. 7270. That 
the angels also are veiled with a thin corresponding cloud, lest they should sutfer injury 
ft'om the influx of burninr' love, n. 6849. 

C) That the presence of tfie Lord with the angels is according to their reception oJ 
the good of love and of foith from Him, nn. 904, 4198, 4320, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 
9680, 9682, 9683, 10,106, 10,811. That the Lord appears to every one according to His 
quality, nn. 1861, 3235, 4198, 4206. That the hells are- remote from the heavens in 
consequence of their inhabitants not being able to bear the presence of divine love 
from the Lord, nn. 4299, 7519, 7738, 7989, (8157,) 8306, 9327. That hence the hella 
are most remote from the heavens, and that this remotenesA is the great gulf nu. 
9346, 10,187. 
58 



HEAVEX. 122, 123 

in person, — tlie Lord, in person, being always encompassed with 
the sun; bat He is in the presence of the angeis by aspect. 
For it is common, in heaven, for persons to appear as present in 
the phice on which the view is fixed, -..r in which it is termi- 
nated, although this may be very distant from the place in which 
the persons thus seen actually are. This presence is called the 
presence of the internal sight ; which will be treated of hereafter. 
The Lord has also been seen by me out of the sun, in an angelic 
form, a little below the sun, at a great altitude. I have likewise 
seen Him near, in a similar form, with a resplendent counte- 
nance : and once in the midst of a band of angels, as a flaming 
beam of lio;ht. 

122. The sun of the natural world appears to the angels as a 
sort of mass of thick darkness opposite to the sun of heaven ; 
and the moon as a sort of mass of darkness opposite to the moon 
of heaven : the reason is, because any thing fiery belonging to 
the world corresponds to the love of self; and any thing lumi- 
nous thence proceeding corresponds to falsity derived from that 
love ; and the love of self is diametrically opposite to Divine 
Love, and the falsity thence derived is diametrically opposite to 
Divine Truth ; and, to the angels, w^hatever is opposite to Divine 
Love and Divine Truth, is thick darkness. On this account, to 
worshi]) the sun and moon of the natural world, and to bow 
down one's self to them, signifies, in the Word, to love one's 
self, and the falsities which proceed from the love of self: where- 
fore it is said of such idolaters, that they should be cut oiF.(^) 
(Deut. iv. 19 ; xvii. 3, 4, 5 ; Jer. viii. 1, 2 ; Ezek. viii. 15, 16, IS ; 
Eev. xvi. 8 ; Matt. xiii. 6.) 

123. Since the Lord appears in heaven as a sun, by virtue of 
the Divine Love which is in Him and proceeds from Him, all 
the inhabitants of the heavens turn themselves constantly to- 
w^ards Him ; those who belong to the celestial kingdom turning 
towards Him as a sun, and those who belong to the spiritual 
kingdom turning towards Him as a moon. But the inhabitants 
of hell turn themselves towards that mass of thick darkness and 
that mass of darkness which are opposite to the former, thus, 
backwards from the Lord. The reason of this is, because all 
w^ho inhabit the hells are grounded in the love of self and of the 
world, and thus are opposite to the Lord. Those who turn them- 
selves towards that appearance of thick darkness which is in 
lieu of the sun of the natural world, are those who inhabit the 
hells at the back, and are called genii • but those who turn 
themselves towards the appearance of darkness which is in lieu 

(•*) That the sun < f the world does not appear to the angels, but, in its place, a dark 
app-earance at tlie back, opposite to the sun of heaven, or the Lord, nn. 7078, 9755. 
That the sun, in the opposite sense, signifies the love of self, n. 2441. In which sense, 
by adoring the sun is signified to adore those things which are contrary to heavenly 
love, or to' the Lord, nn. 2441, 10,584. That to those who reside within the hells, th« 
nun of heaven is thick darkness, n. 2441. 

59 



124 — 126 HEAVEN. 

of the moon, are those who inhabit the hells in front, and are 
called spirits. It on this account that the inhabitants of the 
hells are said to be in darkness, and those of the heavens in 
light. Darkness signifies falsity derived from evil, and light 
signifies truth derived from good. The reason that they turn 
themselves in such directions, is, because all, in the other life, 
look towards the objects which reign in their interiors, thus, 
towards their loves ; and the interiors of an angel or spirit 
fashion his face ; and, in the spiritual world, the quarters are not 
determinate, as they are in the natural w^orld, but they are de- 
termined by the direction of the faces of the inhabitants. Man, 
also, as to his spirit, turns himself in a similar way. A person 
who is immersed in the love of self and the world, turns himself 
backwards from the Lord ; whereas one who is grounded in love 
to Him and his neighbor, turns himself towards Him. Of this, 
however, the man himself is not conscious ; because he is living 
in the natural world, in which the quarters are determined by 
the rising and setting of the sun. As, however, this is a matter 
which can with difiiculty be comprehended by man, it shall be 
illustrated in some following Sections, in which the Quarters, 
Space, and Time, in Heaven, shall be treated of. 

124. Since the Lord is the Sun .of heaven, and all things 
which are from Him look towards Him, He, also, is the Com- 
mon Centre, from which proceed all direction and determina- 
tion.(^) Thus, likewise, all things beneath are in His presence 
and imder His auspices ; both those in heaven, and those on 
earth. 

125. From what has now been stated, the truths advanced 
and shown in the preceding Sections respecting the Lord may 
be seen more clearly ; namely. That He is the God of Heaven 
(nn. 2 — 6); That His Divine Sphere constitutes Heaven (nn. 
7 — 12) ; That the Divine Sphere of the Lord in Heaven is Love 
to LLim and Charity towards the Neighbor (nn. 13 — :19) ; That 
there is a Correspondence hetween all things belonging to the 
Worlds and Heaven^ and through Heaven with the Lord (nn. 
87 — 115) ; also. That the Sun and Moon of the Natural World 
have such Correspondence (n. 105). 



OF LIGHT AND HEAT IN HEAVEN. 

126. That there is light in the heavens cannot be conceived 
by those who only think from nature ; and yet the light in the 

(•) That the Lord is the common centre, to which all things belonging to hcavea 
turn themselves, n. 3633. 

60 



HEAVEN. 127, 128 

heavens is so great, as to exceed by many degrees the noonday 
light of the world. I liave often seen it, even in the evening 
and in the night. In the beginning of my experience, I won- 
dered when I "heard the angels say that the light of the world 
is little better than shade compared with the light of heaven ; 
but since I have seen it I can testify that it is so. Its white- 
ness and brightness are such as to surpass all description. The 
objects seen by me in the heavens were seen in that liglit ; thus, 
far more clearly and distinctly than objects can be seen in the 
world. 

127. The light of heaven is not natural like that of the world, 
but spiritual ; for it proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and that 
sun is Divine Love : as shown in the preceding Section. That 
which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, is called in heaven 
Divine Truth. It is, however, in its essence. Divine Good uni- 
ted to Divine Truth. It is hence that the angels have light 
and heat ; their light being from Divine Truth, and their heat 
from Divine Good. It may hence be manifest, that the light of 
heaven, and its heat also being from such an origin, are spiritual 
and not natural.(^) 

128. The reason that Divine Truth is the angels' light is, be- 
cause the angels are spiritual, and not natural. Spiritual beings 
see from tiieir sun, and natural beings from theirs. Divine 
Truth is that from which the angels derive understanding, and 
understanding is their internal sight, which enters by influx into 
their external sight, and produces it. Hence, whatever objects 
appear in heaven from the Lord as a sun, appear in light.(^) 
Such being the origin of light in heaven, it undergoes variations 
according to the angels' reception of Divine Truth from the 
Lord ; or, what amounts to the same, according to the intel- 
ligence and wisdom in which the angels are grounded. It 
therefore is different in the celestial kingdom from what it is in 
the spiritual kingdom ; and so, again, in every society of both 
The light in the celestial kingdom appears as of flame, because 
the angels who dwell there receive light from the Lord as a sun : 
but the light in the spiritual kingdom is white, because the 
angels who dwell there receive light from the Lord as a moon. 
(See above, n. 118.) The light, also, is not the same in one so- 
ciety as in another. It likewise diflfers in each individual so- 
ciety ; those who inhabit the centre enjoying more Hglit, and 
those in the circumferences less. (See above, n. 43.) In one 
word : in the same degree as the angels are recipients of Divine 
Truth, or are grounded in intelligence and wisdom from the 

C*) That all light in the heavens is from the Lord as a sun, nn. 1053, 1521, 3195, 
5341. 363(3, 3643, 4415, 9548, 9684, 10,809. That the divine truth proceeding from the 
Lord appears in heaven as light, and causes all the light of heaven, nn. 3195, 3223, 
6400, 8644, 9399. 9548, 9684. 

(') TJiat the light of heaven illuminates both the sight and the understanding o^ 
•ngels and spirits, nn. 2776, 3138. 

61 



129, 130 HEAVEN. 

Lord, they have lig]it.(^) On this accoant the angels of heaven 
are called angels of light. 

129. Since the Lord in the heavens is Divine Truth, and 
Divine Truth is there the light, therefore, in the Word the Lord 
is called the Light, as is likewise every truth that proceeds from 
Him; as in these places: Jesus said^ '-^ I am the light of the 
world : he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness^ hut 
shall have the light of lifeP — (John viii. 12.) '-^ As long as 1 
am in the worlds I am the light of the world^'' — (Ch. ix. 5.) 
" Jesus said^ — Yet a little while is the light with you Walk 
tohile ye have tJie lights lest darkness come ujpon you. While ye 
have light .^ helieve in the light .^ that ye may he the children of 

light. 1 am come a light into the world., that whosoever he- 

lieveth on Me should not abide in darknessP — (Ch. xii. 35, 36, 
46.) " Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness 
hetter than light., hecause their deeds were evilP — (Gh. iii. 19„) 
John said of the Lord, that He " was the true light., which en- 
lighteneth every man.'''' — (Ch. i. 9.) " The people that sat in 
darkness saw great light / and to the'in that sat in the region and 
shadow of death., light is sprung upP — (Matt. iv. 16.) / will 
''''give thee for a eovenamt of the people^ for a light of the Gen- 
tiles P — (Isa. xlii. 6.) ^'' I will yive thee for a light of the Gen- 
tiles^ that thou mayest he my salvation unto the end of the earthP 
■ — (Ch. xlix. 6.) " The nations of thein that are sa^ed shall walk 
in the light of itP — (Rev. xxi. 24.) " send out thy light and 
thy truth: let them lead "ineP — (Ps. xliii. 3.) In these and other 
passages the Lord is called the light, on account of the Divine 
Truth which proceeds from Him ; and the truth itself is also 
denominated light. Since light exists in the heavens from the 
Lord as a sun, therefore, when he was transfigured before Peter, 
James, and John, " His face did shine as the sun., and his rai- 
ment vjas vMte as the light ^^^ or " hecame shining^ exceeding 
white as snow., so as no fuller on earth could white themP — (Matt, 
xvii. 2 ; Mark ix. 3.) The reason that the Lord's garments thus 
appeared, was because they represented the Divine Truth w^iich 
exists from Him in the heavens. Garments, also, in the Word 
signify truths ;(*) whence it is said in David, " Jehovah., — who 
coverest thyself with light., as with a garment.'''' — (Ps. civ. 2.) 

130. That the light in heaven is spiritual, and that such light 
is Divine Truth, may also be concluded from the fact that man 
likewise enjoys spiritual light, and derives from it enlighten- 

(*) That light is seen in heaven according to the intelligence and wisdom of the 
angels, nn. 1524, 1529, 1530j 3339. That the differences of light in the heavens are as 
many as are the angelic societies, since perpetual varieties as to good and truth, thus 
as to wisdom and intelligence, exist in tne heavens, nn. 684, 690, 8241, 3744, 3745, 
4414, 5508, 7236, 7833, 7836. 

(*) That garments, in the Word, signify truths, because they invest good, nn. 1078, 
2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9216, 9952, 10,536. That the garments of the Lord, when H« 
was transfigured, signified the divine truth proceeding from His divine love, nn. 9212, 
9216. 

62 



HEAVEN. 130, 131 

ment, in proportion as he is grounded, from Divine Truth, in 
intelligence and wisdom. Man's spiritual light is the light of 
his understanding, the objects of which are truths ; which that 
light arranges analytically into order, forms into reasons, and 
draws from them conclusions in series respecting the subjects of 
inquiry .(^) That it is by a real light that the understanding sees 
all this the natural man is not aware, because he does not see 
it with his eyes nor discern it in his thoughts : nevertheless, 
there are many who are acquainted with it, and wlio also dis- 
tinguish it from the natural light which alone is enjoyed by those 
who only think naturally and not spiritually. They think only 
naturally who merely direct their view into the world, and as- 
cribe all to nature ; but they think spiritually who elevate their 
view to heaven, and attribute all to the Divine Being. That that 
which enlightens the mind is a true light, completely distinct 
from that which is called natural light, it has been frequently 
granted me to perceive, and to see also. I have been elevated 
into that light, more and more interiorly, by degrees ; and in 
proportion to such elevation my understanding was enlightened, 
till at length I had a perception of things of which I before had 
none, and at last of such as I could not so much as comprehend 
in thought derived from natural light. I have sometimes been 
vexed at not being able so to comprehend them, although in 
heavenly light I had perceived them clearly and perspicuousl3^(^ 
Since there is a light appropriate to the understanding, it is 
usual to speak of that faculty in the same terms as of the eye ; 
as when we say that it sees, and has light, — meaning, that it 
perceives ; or that it is obscure, and in the dark, — meaning, that 
it does not perceive ; wdth many similar phrases. 

131. The light of heaven being Divine Truth, it also is Divine 
wisdom and intelligence ; whence the same is meant by being 
elevated into the light of heaven, as by being elevated into in- 
telligence and wisdom, and enlightened ; wherefore the angels 
have light exactly in the same degree as they have intelligence 
and wisdom. Since the light of heaven is Divine wisdom, all, 
when seen in that light, are known at once as to their quality. 
The interiors of every one are displayed openly in his face, just 

(*) That the light of heaven illuminates the understanding of man ; and that, on 
this account, man is rational, nn. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10,569. 
That the understanding is enlightened, because it is recipient of truth, nn. 6222, (?608, 
10,661. That the understanding is enlightened so far as man receives truth in good 
from the Lord, n. 3619. That the understanding is of such a quality as are the truths 
derived from good, from which it is formed, n. 10,064. That the understanding has 
light from heaven, as the sight has light from the world, nn. 1524, 5114, 6608, 9128. 
That the light of heaven proceeding from the Lord, is always present with man, but 
that it onlv enters so for as man is grounded in truth derived from good, nn. 4060, 
4214. 

(') That man, when he is elevated from the sensual principle, comes into a ir.ilder 
lumen, and at length into celestial light, nn. 6313, 6315, 9407. That there is an actual 
elevation into the light of heaven, when man is elevated into intelligence, n. 3190. 
How great a light has been perceived, when I have been withdrawn from worldly 
ideas, nu. 1526, 6608. 

63 



132, 133 HEAVEN. 

as they really are : and not the least particular can remain con 
cealed. The interior angels, also, love to have all that is in 
them made manifest, because they will nothing but what is 
good. It is different with spirits below heaven, who do not will 
what is good ; on which account they are dreadfully afraid oi 
being looked at in the light of heaven : and, what is w^onderful, 
the inhabitants of hell, though they appear among themselves 
as men, appear in the light of heaven as monsters, horrible in 
countenance and horrible in person, the exact forms of their 
own evil.(^) Man also appears in a similar way, as to his 
spirit, when looked at by angels : if he is good, he appears as a 
man, beautiful according to the degree in which he is good : if 
he is evil, he appears as a monster, deformed according to the 
degree in which he is evil. It hence is clear, that in the light 
of heaven all things are made manifest : they are so because the 
light of heaven is Divine Truth. 

132. Since, in the heavens. Divine Truth is light, all truths 
whatever, be they found where they may, whether within an 
angel or without him, whether within the heavens or w^ithout 
them, shine, or give light. Truths without the heavens, how- 
ever, do not shine like truths within them. Truths without the 
heavens give a frigid light, like snow, that possesses no heat, 
because the;f do not derive their essence from good, as do truths 
within the heavens ; wherefore also that frigid light, on the 
ill apse of light from heaven, disappears, and, if there is evil 
beneath, is turned into darkness. This I have often witnessed ; 
with many other remarkable facts relating to shining truths ; 
the mention of which I omit. 

133. Something shall now be stated respecting the heat of 
heaven. 

The heat of heaven, in its essence, is love. It proceeds from 
the Lord as a sun : and that this is the Divine Love existing in 
the Lord and proceeding from Him, has been shown in the pre- 
vious Section. It hence is evident, that the heat of heaven is 
spiritual, as well as its light, being both from the same origin.(^) 
There are two things w^hich proceed from the Lord as a sun, 
Divine Truth and Divine Good. Divine TVuth is displayed in 
the heavens as light ; and Divine Good as heat. Divine Truth 
and Divine Good are, however, so united, that they are not two, 
but one. Still, with the angels they are separated ; there being 
some angels who recei^^e Divine Good more than Divine Truth, 
and others who receive Divine Truth more than Divine Good. 

C) That those who dv^^ell in the hells, In their own li^ht, which is lilte that of igni- 
ted charcoal, appear to themselves as men, but in the light of heaven as monsters, nn. 
4531, 4533, 4674, 5057, 5058, 6605, 6626. 

(*) That there are two origins of heat, and likewise two origins of light, viz., the sun 
of the world and the sun of heaven, nn. 3338, 5215, 7324. That heat from the Lord as 
a sun is the affection which proceeds from love, nn. 3636, 8643. Hence, that fipiritual 
heat is, in its essence, love, nn. 2146, 3338, 3339, 6314. 

64 



HEAVEN. 134, 135 



They who receive more Divine Good are in the Lord's celestial 
kingdom ; and they who receive more Divine Truth are in the 
Lord's spiritual kingdom. The most perfect angels are those 
that receive both in the same degree. 

13-i. The heat of heaven, like its light, is everywhere various. 
It is different in the celestial kingdom from what it is in the 
spiritual kingdom; and also, in every society of each. It not 
only differs in degree, but also in quality. It is more intense 
and pure in the Lord's celestial kingdom, because the angels 
there receive more Divine Good : it is less intense and pure in 
the Lord's spiritual kingdom, because the angels there receive 
more Divine Truth : and it differs, also, in every society, ac- 
cording to the state of reception in the inhabitants. There is 
also heat in the hells, but of an unclean nature.(^) The heat 
in heaven is what is meant by sacred and heavenly fire ; and 
the heat of hell is what is meant by profane and infernal fire. 
By both is meant love ; by heavenly fire, love to the Lord and 
love towards the neighbor, with every affection related to those 
loves ; and by infernal fire, the love of self and the love of the 
world, with every concupiscence thereto related. That love is 
heat derived from a spiritual origin, is evident from the fact 
that there is increase of warmth according to increase of love ; 
for a man is inflamed, and grows hot, according to the quantity 
and quality of his love, and its burning nature is manifested 
when it is assaulted. It is on this account, also, that it is cus- 
tomary to use such expressions as " being incensed," " growing 
hot," " burning," " boiling," and " taking fire," when speaking 
either of the affections belonging to the love of good, or of the 
concupiscences belonging to the love of evil. 

135. The reason that the love proceeding from the Lord as a 
sun is felt in heaven as heat, is, because, from the Divine Good 
that proceeds from the Lord, the interiors of the angels are full 
of love ; whence their exteriors, being heated from that source, 
have a sense of warmth. On this account it is, that in heaven, 
the heat and the love mutually correspond to each other, so 
that every one there enjoys such a degree and kind of heat as he 
does of lov^e : as stated just above. The heat of the natural 
world does not at all enter heaven, because it is too gross, and is 
natural and not spiritual. With men, however, the case is dif 
ferent, because they exist both in the spiritual world and in the 
natural world at once : as to their spirit, they have warmth 
solely according to their loves ; but as to their body, they derive 
it from both sources, both from the heat of their own spirit and 
from the heat of the world. The former flows into the latter, 
because they correspond to each other. The nature of the cor- 

(') That there is heat in the hells, but of an unclean nature, nn. 1773, 2757, 3840. 
And that the odor thence arising is like odor from dung and excrement in the world, 
and, in the worst hells, is like that of corpses, nn. 814, 819, 820, 943, 954, 5394. 

d 65 



136, 137 HEAYEN. 

respondence between these two kinds of heat, may be concluded 
from observing the animals; for the passions of aomals, the 
chief of which is that of procreating an offspring of their own 
natm-e, burst forth, and operate, in proportion to the presence 
and afflux of heat from the sun of this world, which heat only 
prevails in the seasons of spring and summer. They are much 
deceived who imagine, that the kifluent heat of this world is 
what excites the passions of animals ; for there is no influx of 
wJiat is natural into what is spiritual, but only of what is spir- 
itual into what is natural. This influx is according to divine 
order ; to which order, the other influx would be contrary. (^^) 

136. Angels, like men, have understanding and will. The 
light of heaven constitutes the life of their understanding, be- 
cause the light of heaven is Divine Truth, and thence Divine 
wisdom ; and the heat of heaven constitutes the life of their 
will, because the heat of heaven is Divine Good and thence 
Divine love. The most essential life of the angels is derived 
from that heat ; but not from the light, except so far as this has 
heat w^ithin it. That life is derived from heat, is manifest ; for 
when heat is withdrawn, life perishes. It is similar with faith 
without love, or with truth without good : for truth, which is 
called the object of faith, is light ; and good, which is the object 
of love, is heat.(") These truths are seen more evidently when 
illustrated by the heat and light of the world, to which corre- 
spond the heat and light of heaven. By the heat of the world 
conjoined with its light, all things that grow on the surface of 
the earth receive life and flourish. This occurs in the seasons 
of spring and summer. But by the light separate from heat, 
nothing receives life and flourishes, but all things droop and 
die. This occurs in the season of winter, when heat is absent, 
though light remains. In consequence of that correspondence, 
heaven is called a paradise ; because there, truth is conjoined 
with good, or faith with love, as light is with heat in the vernal 
season on earth. From these observations, the truth advanced 
in its proper Section above (nn. 13 — 19), — "That the Divine 
Sphere of the Lord in heaven is love to Him and charity to- 
wards the neighbor," — may be more fully evident. 

137. It is said in John, "i7^ the beginning %oas the Word^ and 
the Word was with God^ and the Word was God. All things 

(") That there is spiritual influx, and not physical ; thus, that there is influx from 
the spiritual world into the natural, and not from the natural into the spiritual, n. 
3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5-128, 5477, 6322, 9110, 9111. 

(") That truths without good are not in themselves truths, because they have not 
life, for truths have all tlicir life from good, n. 9603. Thus, that they are as a body 
without a soul, nn. 8180, 9154. That truths without good are not accepted of the 
Lord, n. 4368. What is tlie quality of truth without good, thus what is the quality of 
faith without love ; and what the quality of truth derived from good, or the quality of 
faith derived from love, nn. 1949, 1950, 1951, 1964, 5830, 5951. That it comes to the 
same thing, whetlier we speak of truth or of faith, and of goad or of love, since truth 
is the object of faith, and good is the object of love, nn. (2839 ) (4353,) 4997, 7178, 7628, 
7624, .10,367. 



HEAVEN. 13T 

were made hy Hlin^ ana without Him was not any thing madt 
that was made. In Him ^cas life : and the life loas the lighi 

of men. He loas in the worlds and the world was made hy 

Him. And the Word teas made flesh .^ and dwelt among us^ 

and ice heheld His glory. ^^ — (Ch. i. 1,3, 4, 10, 14). That it is the 
Lord who is meant by the Word, is evident, because it is said 
that the Word was made flesh : but wliat is specifically meant 
by the Word has not heretofore been known ; wherefore it shall 
here be declared. 

The Word here mentioned is the Divine Truth, which exists 
in, and proceeds from, the Lord :(^^) wherefore, also, it is here 
called the light ; and that this is the Divine Truth, has been 
shown above in this Section. How all things were made and 
created by the Divine Truth, shall now be explained. 

In heaven, all power belongs to Divine Truth, and there is 
none at all without it.(^^) It is from their reception of the 
Divine Truth that all the angels are denominated powers ; and 
they actually are such, in proportion as they are recipients or 
receptacles of it. It is by this that they have power over the 
hells, and over all who put themselves in opposition ; for a 
thousand enemies cannot there bear one ray of the light of 
heaven, which is Divine Truth. Since angels are angels by 
virtue of their reception of the Divine Truth, it follows that the 
whole of heaven has no other origin ; for heaven is, composed of 
the angels. That such immense power is inherent in Divine 
Truth, cannot be believed by those who have no other idea of 
truth than they have of thought, or discourse, which have no 
power in themselves, except so far as others act in obedience to 
what is spoken : but Divine Truth has power inherently in it- 
self, and power of such a kind, that by it were both heaven and 
the world created, with all things that exist in each. 

That such power exists inherently in Divine Truth, may be 
illustrated by two comparisons : namely, by the power of truth 
and good in man ; and by the power of light and heat which 
proceed from the sun in the world. 

By the jpower of truth and good in m.an. All things what- 
ever that man performs, he does from his understanding and 
will. He acts from his will by good, and from his understand- 
ing by trath ; for all things that exist in the will have relation 

(^^) That the term word, in the Sacred Scripture, signifies various things, viz., dia- 
ccurse, the thought of the mind, every thing which really exists ; also, something: 
and in the supreme sense, the divine truth, and the Lord, n. 9987. That the Wora 
signities divine truth, nn. 2S03, 2894, 4692, 5075, 5272, (7830,) 9987. That the ^Vord 
Bignifies the Lord, nn. 2533, 2859. 

('^) That it is the divine truth proceeding from the Lord which has all power, n. 
6948, 8200. That all power in heaven belongs to truth derived from good, nn. 3091. 
S563, 6344, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10,019, 10,182. That the angels are called powers, and 
that they likewise are powers, by virtue of the reception of divine truth from the 
Lord, n. 9639. That the angels are recipients of divine truth from the Lord, and that 
on this account they are frequently in the Word called gods, nn. 4295, 4402, 8301, 8192, 
8160. 

67 



xlO HEAVEN. 

/' 

/ ffood, and all tliin2:s that exist in the understandinij have re- 
iation to truth.(^*) I rom these, then, it is, that man puts his 
whole body in motion, in which thousands of things rush at 
once into action at the behest and pleasure of those principles. 
It hence is evident, that the whole body is formed to be at the 
disposal of good and truth; and, consequently, that it is formed 
from good and truth. 

By the power of the heat and light which proceed from the 
Sim in the world. All things in the world that grow, such as 
trees, corn, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds, no otherwise de 
rive existence, than by means of the heat and light of the sun. 
It hence is evident what a productive power is inherent in those 
elements : what then must that power be which is inherent in 
Divine Light, which is Divine Truth, and in Divine Heat, which 
is Divine Good ; from which, as heaven derives its existence, so 
also does the world ? for the world exists through heaven, as 
has been shown above. 

From these considerations may appear how it is to be under- 
stood, that by the Word were all things made, and without it 
was not any thing made that was made, and that the world also 
was made by it ; namely, that these works were produced by 
the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord.(^^) It is on 
this account, also, that, in the book of Genesis, mention is first 
made of light, and afterwards of such things as depend on light 
(ch. i. 3, 4). It also is from this cause, that all things in the 
universe, both in heaven and in the world, have relation to good 
and truth, and to their conjunction, in order to their possessing 
any actual existence. 

139."^ It is to be observed, that the Divine Good and Divine 
Truth which exist in the heavens from the Lord as a sun, are 
not in the Lord, but from Him. In the Lord, there is only 
Divine Love, which is the Esse, from which those principles 
Exist. To Exist from Esse is what is meant by the expression, 
to Proceed. This, likewise, may be illustrated by comparison 
with the sun of the natural world : The heat and light which 
exist in the world, are not in the sun, but are from it. In the 
sun is nothing but fire ; from which those elements exist and 
proceed. 

140. Since the Lord, as a sun, is Divine Love, and Divine 
Love is Divine Good Itself, the Divine Emanation which pro- 
ceeds from Him, and is His Divine Sphere in heaven, is called, 

(") That the understanding is recipient of truth, and the will recipient, of good, nn. 
3623. 6125, 7503, 9300, (9930.) That therefore all things which are in the understand- 
ing have reference to truths, whether they actually are truths, or man only believes 
them to be such ; and that all things which are in the will have reference to goods, in 
like manner, nn. 803, 10,122. 

C*) That the divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the only real existence, nn. 
6880, 7004, 8200. That by the divine truth all things were made and created, nn. 2808» 
8884, 5272, 7678. 

♦ There is no n. '.88 in the original. — N, 

68 



HEAVEN. 141, 142 

for the sake of distinction, Divine Truth ; although it is Divine 
Good united with Divine Truth. This Divine Principle is what 
is called the ITolj Proceeding that emanates from Him. 



ON THE FOUR QUARTERS IN HEAVEN. 

141. In heaven, as in the world, there are four quarters, the 
east, the south, the west, and the north. These, in both worlds, 
are determined by their respective suns; in heaven, by the sun 
of heaven, which is the Lord; in the w^orld, by the sun of the 
world : but still there are great differences between them. 

The FiEST difference is, that in the world, that point is called 
the south, where the sun appears when at his greatest altitude 
above the earth ; the north, where he is when in the opposite 
point below the earth ; the east, where he rises at the equinoxes ; 
and the west, where he then sets. Thus, in the world, all the 
quarters are determined from the south. But, in heaven, that 
point is called the east where the Lord appears as a sun ; oppo- 
site, is the west ; on the right, in heaven, is the south ; and on 
the left is the north ; and this continues, let them turn their 
face and body about as they may. Thus, in heaven, all the 
quarters are determined from the east. The reason that the 
point where the Lord appears as a sun is called the east, is, 
because all the origin of life is from Him as a sun ; and also, 
because, in proportion as heat and light, or love and intelligence, 
are received by the angels from Him, the Lord is said to arise 
upon them.^ This also is the reason that the Lord, in the Word, 
is called the east.(^) 

142. Another difference is, that, with the angels, the east is 
always before their face, the west behind their back, the south 
on their right, and the north on their left. But this cannot, 
without difficulty, be comprehended in the world, because a man 
here turns his face towards any quarter, indifferently : wherefore 
it shall be explained. 

The whole of heaven turns itself towards the Lord as its com- 
mon centre ; whence all the angels turn themselves in the same 
direction. That every thing on earth also tends to a common 
centre, is well known. But the direction which things have 
towards their centre in heaven differs from that which they have 
in the world in this respect : that, in heaven, it is the fore parts 
that are directed towards the common centre ; whereas, in the 

(') That the Lord, in the supreme sense, is the east, because he is the sun of heaven, 
which always is in ils rising, and never setting, nn. 101, 5097, 9668. 

* To enable the English reader to understand this sentence, he must be informed, 
that the Latin word for the east is oriens, derived from orior, to arise ; whence also is 
formed oriffo, the exact meaning of which is retained in our word '•^origin.''' The 
sense of the above will be clear to the English reader, if, wherever the term " east" 
occurs, he substitutes in his mind " the rising," which is the literal signification of 
the Latin word. — JV, 

69 



142, 143 HEAVEN. 

world, it is the lower parts. In the world, this tendency is called 
the centripetal force, and also, gravitation. The interiors ot 
the angels, also, actually are turned forwards ; and as the inte- 
riors exhibit themselves in the face, it is the face, there, w^hich 
determines the quarters. (^) 

143. But that the angels have the east before their face, let 
them turn their face and body about as they may, is a fact which 
will be still more difficult of comprehension in the world ; be- 
cause, here, a man has every quarter before his face, as he turns 
himself round : wherefore this also shall be explained. 

Angels, like men, turn and incline their faces and bodies in 
every direction ; but still they always have the east before their 
eyes. The changes of aspect of angels, occasioned by turning 
round, are not like those of men ; for they are from a difierent 
origin. They appear, indeed, similar, but yet they are not. 
The ruling love is the origin from which all determinations of 
aspect proceed, both with angels and spirits. For, as just ob- 
served, their interiors are actually turned towards their common 
centre, consequently, in heaven, towards the Lord as a sun : 
wherefore, as their love is continually before their interiors, and 
their face exists from their interiors, being the external form of 
them, it follows that the love which reigns in them is continually 
before their face. In the heavens, therefore, the Lord as a sun 
is continually before them, since it is from Him that their love 
is derived :(^) and as the Lord Himself is present in His love 
with the angels, it is He that causes them to look towards Him, 
turn about as they may. These particulars cannot yet be fur- 
ther elucidated ; but in the subsequent Sections, especially in 
those on Kepresentatives and Appearances in heaven, and on 
Time and Space in heaven, they will be made more plainly in- 
telligible. 

That the angels constantly have the Lord before their face, 
has been granted me to know by much experience, and also to 
perceive myself. Whenever I have been in company with 
angels, I was sensible of the Lord before my face ; and although 
He was not seen, still He was perceived in light. That such is 
the fact, the angels, also, have frequently testified. Because 
the Lord is constantly before the face of the angels, it is usual 
to say in the world, respecting persons who believe in God, and 

(') That all in heaven turn themselves to the Lord, nn. 9828, 10,130, 10,189, 10,420. 
That, nevertheless, the angels do not turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord turns 
them to Himself, n. 10,189. That the presence of the angels is not with the Lord, 
but the Lord's presence is with the angels, n. 9415. 

(^) That all in the spiritual world constantly turn themselves to their own loves ; 
find that the quarters there commence and are determined from the face, nn. 10,130, 
10,189, 10,420, 10,702. That the face is formed to correspond with the interiors, nn, 
4791 — 4805, 5695. That hence, the interiors shine forth from the face, nn. 3527, 4066, 
4796, That the face makes one with the interiors with the angels, nn. 4796, 4797, 
4799, 5695, 8249. Of the injflux of the interiors into the face and its muscles, nn. 8631, 
4800; 

70 



HEAYEH. 144-147 

love Tlini, tluit tliev have Him before their eyes, and before their 
face, that they look to Him, and that they keep Him in view 
Man derives this mode of speaking from the spiritual world ; foi 
many plirases in human language come from thence, though 
men are not aware that such is their origin. 

144. The existence of such a turning of the face to the Lord 
is one of the wonders of heaven. Many may be there together 
in one place, and one may turn his face and body in this direc- 
tion, and another in that ; and yet they all see the Lord before 
them, and each has the south on his right, the north on his left, 
and the west behind. Another of the wonders of heaven is this : 
that although the aspect of the angels is always directed towards 
the east, they nevertheless have also an aspect to the three other 
quarters : but their aspect towards these is from their interior 
sight, which is that of thought. Another, still, of the wonders 
of heaven is this : that it is not lawful for any one in heaven to 
stand behind another, so as to look at the back of his head ; and 
that if this is done, the influx of good and truth which proceeds 
from the Lord sufters disturbance. 

145. The mode in which the angels see the Lord differs from 
that in w^hich the Lord sees the angels. The angels see the 
Lord through their eyes ; but the Lord views the angels in the 
forehead. The reason that he views them in the forehead is, 
because the forehead corresponds to love ; and the Lord, by 
love, flows into their will, and causes Himself to be seen by 
their understanding ; to which the eyes correspond. ("*) 

146. But the quarters in the heavens which constitute the 
Lord's celestial kingdom, differ from the quarters in the heavens 
which constitute His S23iritual kingdom, by reason that the Lord 
appears to the angels in His celestial kingdom as a sun, but to 
those in His spiritual kingdom as a moon. Where the Lord 
appears, is the east: and the distance betw^een the sun and 
moon there is thirty degrees ; whence there is the same difter- 
ence in the position of the quarters. That heaven is divided into 
two kingdoms, which are called the celestial kingdom and the 
spiritual kingdom, may be seen in its proper Section, nn. 20 — 
28. And that the Lord appears in the celestial kingdom as a 
sun, and in the spiritual kingdom as a moon, n. 118. ]^ever- 
theless, the quarters, in heaven, are not hereby rendered indis- 
tinct, because the spiritual angels cannot ascend to the celestial 
angels, nor these descend to them. (See above, n. 35.) 

147. It hence is evident, what is the nature of the Lord's 
presence in the heavens, — that He is everywhere, and with 

(*) That the forehead corresponds to celestial love, and that therefore, by the fore 
head, in the Word, that love is signified, n. 9936. That the eye corresponds to the 
nnderstauding, because the understanding is internal sight, nn, 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 
10,569. Wherefore, to lift up the e -es and see, signifies to understand, to perceive, 
•nd to observe, nn. 2789, 2S29, 3193 3202, 4083, 4086, 4339, 5684. 

71 



148, 149 HEAVEN. 

every one, in the good and truth which proceed from Him : 
consequently, that He dwells with the angels in what is His 
Own (as was stated above, n. 12). Their perception of the 
Lord's presence is seated in their interiors : from these, their 
eyes see ; thus they see Him without themselves, because there 
is continuity [between the Lord as existing within them, and 
the Lord as existing without them].* It may hence appear how 
it is to be understood, that the Lord is in them, and they in the 
Lord ; according to His own words : " Abide in Me^ and I in 
you?'' — (John xv. 4.) ''''He that eateth My fleshy and drinlcetTi 
My hlood^ dwelleth in Me^ and I in hhnP — (Chap. xvi. 56.) 
The Lord's flesh signifies Divine Good, and His blood. Divine 
Truth.(5) 

148. All the inhabitants of the heavens have their habitations 
distinct according to the quarters. Towards the east and west 
dwell those who are grounded in the good of love, — towards 
the east, those who have a clear perception of it, — and towards 
the west, those who have but an obscure perception of it. To- 
wards the south and north dwell those who are grounded in 
wisdom thence derived, — towards the south, those whose light 
of wisdom is clear, — and towards the north, those whose light of 
wisdom is obscure. The angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom 
have their habitations arranged in the same order as those of 
His celestial kingdom, yet with a difference, according to the 
good of love and the light of truth from good, which they 
respectively enjoy. For the love that reigns in the celestial 
kingdom is love to the Lord, and the light of truth thence de- 
rived is wisdom ; but in the spiritual kingdom it is love towards 
the neighbor, which is called charity, and the light of truth 
thence derived is intelligence, which is also called faith. (See 
above, n. 23.) They differ, likewise, as to the quarters; for 
the quarters in the one kingdom, and in the other, are thirty 
degrees apart ; as stated just above (n. 146). 

149. The angels also dwell among themselves in the same 
way, in every society in heaven : towards the east are those 
who enjoy a greater degree of love and charity ; towards the 
west, those who have less ; towards the south are those who en- 
joy more light of wisdom and intelligence ; towards the north, 
those who have less. The reason that they dwell distinct in this 
manner, is, because every society is an image of heaven at 
large, and is, also, heaven on a smaller scale. (See above, 

(*) That the flesh of the Lord signifies His Divine Humanity, and the divine good 

of His love, nn. S813, 7850, 9127, 10,283. And that the blood of the Lord signifies the 
divine truth, and the holy principle of faith, nn. 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326. 7'84fi, 785<>, 
7877, 9127, 9393, 10,026, 10,033, 10,152, 10,204. 

* The words in brackets are added to complete the sense. Mr. Clowes has addeu, 
in his version, "between the eyes and the interiors." But that the sense intciido'l 
\% that given above, is phiin from tlie author's immediately seating, that it expUiiua 
the fact, that tlie Lord is i % Hk peoj)Iey and they in Him. — A\ 

72 



HEAYEN. 150, 151 

nn, 51 — 58.) The same order prevails in tlieir assemblies. 
Tbey fall into this order as a consequence of the form of heaven, 
by virtue of which every one knows his place. It is also pro- 
vided by the Lord, that there should be some of all kinds in 
every society, in order that heaven, as to form, should be like 
itself everywhere. I^evertheless, the arrangement of heaven, 
viewed collectively, differs from that of a single society, as does 
the whole from a part : for all the societies situated towards the 
east excel those towards the west, and those towards the south 
excel those towards the north. 

150. It is from this ground, that the quarters in the heavens 
signify such qualities as are found in those that inhabit them. 
Thus the east signifies love, and its good, enjoyed in clear per- 
ception, and the west, the same in obscure perception ; the 
south, wisdom and intelligence in clear light, and the north, the 
same in obscure light. 'And as such things are signified by those 
quarters, the same are signified by them in the internal or 
spiritual sense of the Word;(^) for the internal or spiritual sense 
of the Word is framed in perfect accordance with the things 
that exist in heaven. 

151. The reverse has place with the inhabitants of the hells. 
Those who dwell there do not look towards the Lord as a sun 
or a moon, but they look backwards from Him, towards that 
mass of thick darkness which is in lieu of the sun of the natural 
world, and that mass of darkness which is in lieu of the moon 
of this earth ; those who are called genii looking towards the 
former, and those who are called spirits towards the latter.(') 
That the sun of the natural world, and the moon of this earth, do 
not appear in the spiritual world, but in lieu of that sun, a mass 
of thick darkness opposite to the sun of heaven, and in lieu of 
that moon, a mass of darkness opposite to the moon of heaven, 
may be seen above (n. 122). Thus the quarters, with those in 
hell, are opposite to the quarters of heaven. Their east is. where 
that mass of thick darkness, and that mass of darkness, appear ; 
their west is where the sun of heaven is : their south is on their 
right, and their north on their left. This also continues, however 

• they may turn themselves about : nor can it possibly be otherwise ; 
by reason that every tendency of their interiors, and every deter- 
mination of aspect thence proceeding, turns to, and strives to be 
in, that direction. That the direction of the interiors and thence 
the actual determination of the aspect of all, in the other life, is 
according to their love, has been shown above (n. 143); and 
the love of those in the hells is the love of self and the world. 

(") That the east, in the Word, signifies love in clear perception, nn. 1250, 3708. 
The west, love la obscure perception, nu, 370S, 9653. The south, a state of light, or 
of wisdom and intelligence^ nn. 1458, 3708, 5672. And the north, that state in obscu- 
i-ity_,. u. 3708. 

('') Who and of what quality those are that are called genii, and who and of what 
quality tlxose are that are called spirits, nn 047, 5035, 5977, 8593, 8622, 8625. 

i I 



^^3 



152 — 154 HEAVEN. 

■ j" 

Those loves are «vliat are signified by the sun of the natural 
world and the moon of this earth (see n. 122) ; and those loves, 
also, are opposite to love to the Lord and love towards the 
neighbor. (^) Hence it is that the infernals turn themselves back 
from the Lord towards those masses of darkness. The inhabit- 
ants of the hells, also, dwell according to their quarters ; those 
who are grounded in evils from the love of self dwelling from 
their east to their west; and those who are grounded in falsities 
of evil, from their south to their north. But of these, more will 
be said below, when treating of the hells. 

152. When any evil spirit gains admission amongst the good, 
the quarters become so confounded, that the good scarcely know 
where their east is. This I have myself sometimes perceived 
to have occurred, and have also heard it mentioned by spirits, 
who were lamenting on account of it. 

153. Evil spirits sometimes appear turned towards the quar 
ters of heaven ; at which time they possess the intelligence and 
perception of truth, but no affection of good. Hence, as soon 
as they turn back towards their own quarters, they again have 
no intelligence and perception of truth ; and they then affirm, 
that the truths which they heard and had a perception of, were 
not truths, but falsities : they also desire that falsities should be 
truths. I have been informed, in regard to such turning, that, 
with the wicked, the intellectual faculty may be so turned, but 
not the will-faculty ; and that this is provided by the Lord, in 
order that every one may be able to see and acknowledge truths, 
but that no one should receive them unless he is grounded in 
good, since it is good that receives truths, and not, by any 
means, evil. I have been further informed, that the same takes 
place with man, in order that it may be possible for him to be 
amended by means of truths ; but that still no one is amended 
any further than as he is grounded in good. Also, that it is for 
the same reason, that man may, in like manner, be turned to 
the Lord ; but that, if he is grounded in evil as to life, he im- 
mediately turns himself back again, and confirms in himself the 
falsities of his own evil in opposition to the truths which he 
understood and saw ; and that this takes place when he thinks 
within himself from his own interior state. 



OF THE CHANGES OF STATE EXPERIENCED BY THE ANGELS IN 

HEAVEN. 

154. By the changes of state experienced by the angels, are 
meiint their changes in respect to love and faith, and thence as 
to their wisdom and intelligence ; thus, with respect to the 

(^) That those who are immersed in the loves of self and of the world turn themselvee 
back from the Lord, nn. 10,130, 10,189, 10,420, 10,702. That love ta the Lord and 
charity towards the neighbor constitute heaven ; whilst the love of self and the love 

74 



HEAVEN. 155, 156 

states of tlieir life. The terra " states" is applied to life, and to 
Buch things as belong to it ; and as the angelic life is the life 
of love and faith, and thence of wisdom and intelligence, the 
term " states" is applied to these, and they are called states ot 
love and faith, and states of wisdom and intelligence. How 
these states, with the angels^ nndergo changes, shall now be 
described. 

155. The angels are not constantly in the same state as to 
love, nor, consequently, as to wisdom ; for all the wisdom they 
enjoy is derived from love, and exists according to it. Some- 
times they are in a state of intense love, and sometimes in a 
state of love not so intense. It decreases by degrees, from its 
greatest intensity to its least. When they are in the greatest 
degree of their love, they are in the light and heat of their life, 
or in their state of lucidity and enjoyment : but when they are 
in its least degree, they are in shade and in cold, or in their 
state of obscurity and non-enjoyment. From the last state they 
return to the first ; and so on. These vicissitudes take place 
one after another, in succession, but admit of variety. These 
states succeed each other, like the variations of the states ol 
light and shade, of heat and cold ; or like the morning, noon, 
evening, and night, in every day in the world ; which undergo 
perpetual varieties during the course of the year. There is also 
a correspondence between them ; the morning corresponding to 
their state of love in its lucidity, the noon to their state of wis- 
dom in its lucidity, the evening to their state of wisdom in its 
obscurity, and the night to a state when there is no love nor 
wisdom. But it is to be observed, that there are no states of 
life belonging to the inhabitants of heaven which correspond to 
night, but only some that correspond to the dawn which pre- 
cedes the morning : night only finds its correspondence among 
the inhabitants of hell.(^) It is in consequence of this corre- 
spondence that, in the Word, days and years signify states ol 
life in general ; heat and light, love and wisdom ; morning, the 
first and supreme degree of love ; noon, wisdom in its light ; 
evening, wisdom in its shade ; the dawn, the obscure state 
which precedes the morning ; but night, the privation of all love 
and wisdom.(2) 

156. As the states of the interiors of the angels, which relate 

of the world constitute hell, because they are opposite, nn. 2041, 3610, 4225, 4776, 
6110, ?366, 7369, 7490, 8232, 8678, 10,455, 10,741—10,745. 

vj) That in heaven, there is no state corresponding to night, but to the twilight 
wliich precedes morning, n. 6110. That twilight signifies a rniddle state between the 
last and the first, n. 10,184. 

(^) That the vicissitudes of states- as to illustration and perception, in heaven, are 
as the times of the day in the world, nn. 5672, 5962, (6310,) 8426, 9213, 10,605. That 
a day and a year in the Word, signify all states in general, nn. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 
2788, 8462, 4850, 10,656. That morning signifies tiie beginning of a new state of love, 
nn. 7218, 8426, 8427, 10,114, 10,134. That evening signifies a state of closing light and 
love, nn. 10,134, 10,135. That night signifies a state of no love and faith, nn. 221, 709, 
2352, 6000, 6110, 7870, 7947. 

75 



157, 158 HEAVEN. 

fco their love and wisdom, undergo changes, so also do the states 
of various things that are without them, and which appear be- 
fore their ejes ; for the tilings without them put on an appear- 
ance accordino^ to those within them. But what those thino-s 
are, and ol what nature, will be described subsequently, in the 
Section on Representatives and Appearances in Heaven. 

157. Every angel undergoes and passes through such changes 
of state, and so does each society in general ; nevertheless, they 
are not experienced by one exactly as by another, by reason 
that they differ in love and wisdom ; for those w^ho occupy the 
centre are in a more perfect state than those who are stationed 
in the circumferences, the diminution extending from the centre 
to the last boundary of all. (See above, nn. 23, 128.) But to 
describe all the differences would occupy too much space : suffice 
it to say, that every one undergoes changes of state according 
to the quality of his love and his faith. Hence it happens, that 
one is in his state of lucidity and enjoyment, while another is 
in his state of obscurity and non-enjoyment, even in the same 
society at the same time ; and that the same differences prevail 
between one society and another ; and also, between the societies 
of the celestial kingdom and those of the spiritual kingdom. The 
differences between those changes of state in general, are like 
the variations of the state of the days in the several climates of 
the earth ; in which it is morning with some when it is even- 
ing with others, and some experience warm w^eather while others 
have cold ; and vice versa. 

158. I have been instructed from heaven why such changes of 
state exist there. The angels have told me that there are several 
reasons for it. The First* is, that the enjoyment of life and of 
heaven which they experience, resulting from the love and wis- 
dom which they receive from the Lord, would by degrees be 
thought little of, did they abide in it continually ; as is experi- 
enced by those who are perpetually surrounded by delightful 
and agreeable objects without variety. A Second Cause is, that 
angels possess a propriimi'^ as well as men ; that this consists 
in loving one's self; that the inhabitants of heaven are all with- 
held from their j^roj^rmm, and, so far as they are withheld from 
it by the Lord, they are in the enjoyment of love and wisdom, 

* It lias been found impossible, by other translators of our Author, to avoid using 
the Latin word pj'oprkim, as introduced by him, without attempthig to translate it. 
The word " selfhood" is sometimes employed as a rendering of it, and conveys the 
most of what is intended by it. It may, therefore, be properly used for it in other 
works ; but in versions of the Author's own writings, it appears best to retain the 
Latin word, — neither " selfhood," nor any other English word, answering to it exactly. 
Proprium simply means, what is one's own: oxid when this is known to the reader, no 
inconvenience can result from its use. In time, no doubt, like medium., deconcmy 
memorandum., and other words of the same form (not to mention the innumerable 
purely Latin words of other forms which are incorporated in our tongue), it will be 
perfectly domesticated amongst us, and will then occasion no more unpleasantness to 
English ears, or embarrassment to English understandings, than the Latin wrds al- 
luded to do now. — K 

76 



heave:^^. 158, 159 

whereas, so far as thej are not withheld from it, they are im- 
mersed in the love of self; and since every one loves his pro- 
prium^ and this draws him away,(^) therefore they experience 
changes of state, or successive vicissitudes. A Third Cause is, 
that they may advance in perfection : for they are thus accus- 
tomed to be kept in the sense of love to the Lord, and to be 
withheld from the love of self; and also, that, by alternations 
of enjoyment and non-enjoyment, their perception and sense of 
good may become more exquisite.(^) The angels said, further, 
that the Lord does not produce their changes of state, since the 
Lord, as a sun, is always flowing into them with an influx of 
heat and light, that is, of love and wisdom : but that the cause 
of those changes is in themselves, because they love their pro- 
prium, which continually draws them away. This they illus- 
trated by a comparison drawn from the sun of the natural world ; 
for this is not the cause of the changes of state as to heat and 
cold, light and shade, which occur every year and every day ; 
for the sun stands motionless ; but the changes are caused by 
the motion of the earth. 

159. It has been shown me how the Lord appears to the 
angels of the celestial kingdom in their fii-st state, how in their 
second, and how in their third. The Lord was at first seen as a 
sun, glowing and beaming with such splendor as it is impossible 
to describe ; and I was informed, that it was thus that the Lord 
as a sun appears to the angels in their first state. There was 
afterwards seen a great dusky belt round the sun, in consequence 
of which the glowing and beaming appearance, which at first 
gave it such splendor, began to be dulled : and I was told, that 
the sun has that appearance in their second state. Afterwards, 
the belt appeared to become more dusky, and the sun, in conse- 
quence, less glowing ; which process went on by degrees, till at 
last the sun became, apparently, quite white ; and I was in- 
formed, that it appears to them in this way in their third state. 
After this, again, that white mass appeared to move to the left 
towards the moon of heaven, and to add itself to its light ; upon 
which the moon shone with more brightness than usual : and it 
was stated to me, that that was the fourth state to the angels of 
the celestial kingdom, and the first to those of the spiritual 
kingdom, and that the changes of state in the two kingdoms 
thus proceed alternately in regard to each other; not, however, 
in the whole at once, but in one society after another ; and also, 
that those vicissitudes do not return at stated periods, but occur 

(') That the propinnm of man consists in loving himself, nn. 694, 731, 4317, 5660. 
That the proprium must be separated, to the intent that the Lord may be present, nn. 
1023, 1044. That it is also actually separated, when any one is held in good by the 
Lord, nn. 9334, 9335, 9336, 9447, 9452, 9453, 9454, 9938. 

(*) That the angels are perfecting to eternity, nn. 4803, 6648. That in heaven, one 
Btate is in no case altogether like another, and that hence is perpetual perfection, u, 
10,200. 

1 7 



360 164 HEAVEN. 

sooner or later, without their being aware of their approach. 
The angels said, further, that the sun is not thus changed, and 
does not make such progression, in itself, but that, nevertheless, 
it appears to do so, according to the successive progressions of 
states experienced by the angels, by reason that the Lord ap- 
pears to every one according to the quality of bis state ; whence 
the sun appears glowing to them when they are in an intense 
state of love, and less glowing, and at last white, as their love 
diminishes. They stated, likewise, that the quality of their 
states was represented by the dusky belt, which induced oir 
the sun those apparent variations in respect to its flame and 
light. 

160. When the angels are in their last state, which is when 
they have descended into their propriwm^ they begin to grow 
sad. I have conversed with them while in this state, and have 
witnessed that sadness. But they said, that they were in hopes 
of soon returning into their former state, and thus, as it were, 
of again returning into heaven ; for it is heaven, to them, to be 
withheld from \\\q\v proprium. 

161. There are also changes of state in the hells : but these 
will be described below, when hell is treated of. 



OF TIME m HEAVEIS". 



162. Though all things in heaven have their successions and 
progressions, as in the world, still the angels have no notion or 
idea of time and space ; and so completely destitute are they of 
such notion and idea, that they do not even know what time and 
space are. Time, in heaven, shall be treated of here ; and space, 
in its proper Section, below. 

163. The reason that the angels do not know what time is, 
notwithstanding all things occur, with them, in successive pro- 
gression, as in the world, and so completely so that there is no 
difference whatever, is this : In heaven, they have no years and 
days, but changes of state; and where years and days exist, 
there are times and seasons : but where changes of state exist 
instead, there are states. 

164. The reason that times or' seasons exist in the world, is, 
because, there, the sun, in appearance, passes from one degree 
of the zodiac to another, and causes the times and seasuns, as 
they are called, of the year ; and, moreover, revolves round the 
earth, causing the times, as they are called, of the day ; per- 
forming both revolutions at regular intervals, ^ot so the sun 
of heaven. The sun does not, by successive progressions and 
circumgyrations, produce years and days, but, in appearance, 
changes of state, and these not at regular intervals (as shown in 

78- 



HEAVEN. 165 167 

the preceding Section). On this account, the angels cannot foiin 
any idea of time, but Lave, instead of it, an idea of state. (AVhat 
state is, may be seen above, n. 154.) 

165. Since the angels have no idea drawn from time, as men 
in the world have, neither have they any idea respecting time, 
or any thing relating to time. As to those things which are 
proper to time, the angels do not so much as know what they 
are ; such as what a year is, what a month, a week, a day, an 
hour, to-day, to-morrow, yesterday. "When angels hear these 
named by man (for a man always has angels adjoined to him by 
the Lord), they have, in lieu of them, a perception of state, and 
of such things as relate to state : thus the natural idea of man 
is turned into a spiritual idea with the angels. It is on this 
.account that times or seasons, in the Word, signify states ; and 
that the things jjroper to time, such as those named above, sig- 
nify spiritual things that corresj)ond to them.(^) 

166. The like occurs in regard to all things that exist from 
time, such as the four seasons of the year, which are called 
spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; the four times of the day, 
which are called morning, noon, evening, and night ; and the 
four ages of man, which are called infancy, youth, manhood, 
and old age ; with all things else, which either exist from time, 
or follow in succession in tlie order of time. When man thinks 
of these things, he thinks from time, but an angel, from state ; 
wherefore every thing derived from time which is included in 
those ideas with man, is turned, with an angel, into the idea of 
state. Spring and morning are turned into the idea of the state 
of love and wisdom, as these exist with angels when in their first 
state ; summer and noon are turned into the idea of love and 
wisdom, as these exist in their second state ; autumn and even- 
ing, such as they are in their third ; but night and winter, into 
an idea of a state such as exists in hell. Hence it is that those 
times have, in the Word, such significations (see above, n. 155). 
It thus is evident, that the natural ideas which exist in the 
thoughts of man, become spiritual ones in the thoughts of the 
angels who are present with him. 

167. Since the angels have no notion whatever of time, they 
have a difierent idea of eternity from that which men on earth 
have. By eternity, the angels have a perception of an infinite 
state — not of infinite time.(^) I was once engaged in thought 
respecting what eternity is ; and I found that I could conceive. 



, , - es, in the Word, signify states, nn. 878S, 2838, 3254, 3356, 4814, 4901, 

4916, 7218, 8070, 10,133, 10,605. That the augels think \sithoiit an idea of time and 

TUr. ■^r^^^^^-.r. T^l^-.-r ■„», loT/i 10QO ooKfl Aoan Anr\-\ ci i a 'toi q frooi 



(*) That times, 



space, n. 3404. The reasons why, nn. 1274, 1382, 8356, 4882, 4901, 6110, 7218, 7381. 
What a year, in the Word, signifies, nn. 487, 488, 493, 893, 2906, 7828, 10,209. What 
a month, n. 3814. What a week, nn. 2044, 3845. W^hat a day, nn. 23, 487, 488, 6110, 
7680, 8426, 9213, 10,132, 10,605. What to-dav, nn. 2838, 3998, 4304, 6165, 6984, 993&. 
What to-morrow, nn. 3998, 10,497. What ye'sterday. nn. 6983, 7114, 7140. 

(') That men have an idea of eternity with time, but the angels without time nni 
1382, 3404. 8325. 

79 



167, 168 HEAVEN. 

by the idea of time, what to eternity might be, namely, existence 
without end ; but that I could not thus conceive what from 
eternity could be, nor, consequently, what God was engaged in 
before creation, from eternity. Falling, in consequence, into a 
state of anxiety, I was elevated into the sphere of heaven, and 
thus into the state of perception respecting eternity which is 
enjoyed by the angels. I then was enlightened to see, that 
eternity is not to be thought of from time, but from state, and 
that then a perception can be obtained of whatyr<?7?i eternity is ; 
which, accordingly, I then experienced. 

168. The angels who converse with men, never speak by 
means of the natural ideas proper to man, all which are drawn 
from time, from space, from materiality, and from things analo 
gous to these ; but by means of spiritual ideas, all of which 
are drawn from states, and their various changes, within and 
without the angels. [N'evertheless, the ideas of the angels, 
which are spiritual, when they enter into men by influx, are 
changed in a moment, and of themselves, into such natural ideas 
proper to man as perfectly correspond to their spiritual ones : 
but that such change takes place, is not known either to the 
angels or to the man. Such, also, is the nature of all the influx 
that flows into man from heaven. There were certain angels 
who were admitted more nearly into my thoughts than is usual, 
even into my natural thoughts, in whioh were many ideas drawn 
from time and space : but as they thep understood nothing, they 
suddenly withdrew : after which I heard them conversing, and 
saying, that they had been in darkness. How complete is the 
ignorance of the angels in regard to time, it has been granted 
me to know by experience. A certain angel came from heaven 
who was of such a character, that he could be admitted, not only 
into spiritual ideas, but also into natural ideas, such as those of 
man ; in consequence of which, I afterwards conversed with 
him, as one man does with another. At first, he did not know 
what that which I called time was ; wherefore I was obliged to 
inform him how the sun appears to revolve round the earth, 
causing years and days : and that the years are thence divided 
into four seasons, and also into months and weeks ; and the days 
into twenty-four hours ; all which recur at stated intervals ; and 
that such is the origin of times. On hearing this, he wondered, 
and said that he knew nothing of such matters, but that he 
knew what states are. In the course of our conversation, I also 
told him, that it is known in the world that there is no time in 
heaven ; or that men talk, at least, as if they knew it ; for they 
say when a person dies, that he has left the things of tiine, and 
that he has departed out of time; by which they mean, out of 
the world. I also remarked, that it is known to some that 
times, in their origin, are states, from the circumstance, that 
they depend entirely upon the states of the affections in wiiich 
80 



HEAVEN. 169 171 

ihe person is, being short to those who are in agreeable and 
cheerful states, long to those who are in disagreeable and melan- 
r^holy ones, and variable in a state of hope and of expectation. 
On which account, the learned discuss what time and space are ; 
and there even are some who know that time belongs to the 
natural man. 

169. The natural man may imagine, that he would have no 
thoughts at all, if the ideas of time, of space, and of material 
things, were removed ; for upon these ideas are founded all the 
thoughts which man can conceive.(^) But be it known to such 
a person, that the thoughts are bounded and contracted in pro- 
portion as they partake of time, space, and materiality ; and 
that they are not bounded, but are extended, in proportion as 
they do not partake of those things, because the mind is so far 
elevated above things corporeal and worldly. It is hence that 
the angels derive their wisdom, and that it is such as is called 
incomprehensible, because it cannot be conceived by ideas that 
merely consist of such elements. 



OF REPRESENTATIVES AND APPEARANCES IN HEAVEN. 

lYO. A man w^ho thinks from natural light alone, cannot 
comprehend that any thing in heaven can be like what exists 
in the world : the reason is, because, from that light, he has 
conceived and confirmed the notion, that angels are nothing but 
minds, and that minds are a sort of ethereal puifs of breath ; 
and that, on this account, they have not the senses that man has, 
nor, consequently, any eyes ; and that if they have no eyes, 
there can be no objects of sight : whereas the truth is, that 
angels have all the senses that man has, much more exquisite 
than his are ; and that they also have light, by which they see, 
much brighter than the light by which man sees. That angels 
are men in most perfect human form, and enjoy every sense 
that man does, may be seen above, nn. 73 — 77. And that the 
light of heaven is much brighter than the light in the world, nn. 
126—132. 

171. What is the nature of the objects which appear to the 
angels in the heavens, cannot be described in few words ; they 
are, however, in great part like those which exist on earth, ex- 
cept that they are more perfect in form, and more abundant in 
number. That such objects exist in the heavens, may be evi- 
dent from those which were seen by the prophets ; such as those 
belonging to the new temple and new earth shown to Ezekiel 

O That man does not think without an idea of time ; otherwise than the angels, n. 
8404. 

6 81 



172 175 HEAVEN. 

(chs. xl. — xlviii. of his prophecies), those shown to Daniel (see 
chs. vii. — xii. of his book), and those to John (see the Revela- 
tion, from beginning to end), and to others (mentioned both in 
the historical and prophetical books of the Word). They saw 
these objects when heaven was opened to them ; and heaven is 
said to be opened when the interior sight is opened, which is 
that of a man's spirit ; for objects in heaven cannot be seen with 
man's bodily eyes, but only with the eyes of his spirit. When 
it pleases the Lord, these eyes are opened ; and man is then 
withdrawn from natural light, which he perceives by the senses 
of his body, and is elevated into spiritual light, which he per- 
ceives by his spirit. It was in this light that I beheld the 
objects that are in the heavens. 

172. But although the objects which appear in the heavens 
are, in great part, like those which exist on earth, they still are 
not like them with respect to their essence ; for those in the 
heavens derive their existence from the sun of heaven, and those 
on earth from the sun of this world. Those things which derive 
their existence from the sun of heaven are termed spiritual 
things : but those which derive their existence from the sun of 
this world are termed natural. 

173. The objects which exist in the heavens do not exist in 
the same manner as do those on earth. In the heavens, all 
things have existence from the Lord according to their corre- 
spondence with the interiors of the angels, lo the angels be- 
long both interiors and exteriors. All things that exist in their 
interiors have relation to love and faith, thus to will and under- 
standing, for the will and understanding are their receptacles : 
but things exterior correspond to their interiors. That things 
exterior correspond to things interior, may be seen above, nn. 
87 — 115. This may receive illustration from what was advanced 
above respecting the heat and light of heaven, namely, that the 
angels enjoy heat according to the quality of their love, and 
light according to the quality of their wisdom. (See nn. 128 — 
134.) It is the same with respect to all things else that appear 
to the senses of the angels. 

174. Whenever it has been granted me to be in company with 
the angels, the objects in heaven were seen by me exactly as 
those in the world are, and were so completely perceptible, that 
I could not tell but that I was in the world, and in a royal 
palace. I have also conversed respecting them with the angels, 
as one man does with aTiother. 

175. As all objects which correspond to things interior also 
represent them, they are called, on this account. Representor 
tives : and as they are varied according to the state of the inte- 
riors with the angels, they are termed, on this account. Appear- 
ances j notwithstanding the objects which appear before the 
eyes of the angels in the heavens, and which are perceived by 

82 



HEAVEN. 1Y5, 176 

their senses, appear and are perceived in as lively a manner, a8 
do those which appear and are perceived on earth by man; 
indeed, much more clearly, distinctly, and perceptibly. The 
appearances which exist from this origin in heaven, are called 
real appearaiices^ because they exist in reality. There also are 
appearances which are not real, being such as do, indeed, ap- 
pear, but do not correspond to their interiors.(^) But these will 
bo treated of hereafter. 

176. To illustrate what is the nature of the objects which 
appear to the angels according to correspondences, I will only 
mention this single fact. To those who are distinguished for 
intelligence there appear gardens and paradises, full of trees 
and flowers of every kind. The trees in them are planted in 
most beautiful order, so combined as to form arbors, the en- 
trance into v/hich is by ornamental openings, and around which 
are walks ; all disposed with such beauty as no language can de- 
scribe. They who are distinguished for intelligence also walk 
about in them, and gather flowers, which they form into wreaths, 
with which they adorn little children. There also are species 
of trees and flowers there, such as never were seen, nor could 
exist, in the world. On the trees likewise, are fruits, according 
to the good of love in which those intelligent ones are grounded. 
They behold such objects, because a garden and paradise, and 
fruit-trees and flowers, correspond to intelligence and wisdom.(2) 
That such things exist in the heavens is also known on earth, 
but only to such as are grounded in good, and have not extin- 
guished in themselves the light of heaven by natural light and 
its fallacies : for they think and say, when meditating and speak- 
ing of heaven, that such things are there as eye Jiath not seen^ 
nor ear heard, 

(^) That all things which appear amongst the angels are representative, nn. 1971, 
3213—8227, 3342, 3475. 8485, 9481, 9543, 9576, 9577. That the heavens are full of rep- 
resentatives, nn. 1521, 1532, 1619. That the representatives are more beautiful as they 
are more interior in the heavens, n. 3475. That representatives in the heavens are 
real appearances, because from the light of heaven, n. 3485. That the divine influx is 
turned into repi'esentatives in the superior heavens, and thence also in the inferior 
heavens, nn. 2179, 3213, 9457, 9481, 9576, 9577. Things are called representatives 
which appear before the eyes of the angels in such forms as are in nature, thus such 
as are in the world, n. 9577. That internal things are thus turned into external, nn, 
1632, 2987 — 3002. The nature of representatives in the heavens illustrated by various 
examples, nn. 1521, 1532, 1619—1628, 1807, 1978, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 2299, 2601, 
2761, 2762, 3217, 8219, 3220, 3348, 3350, 5198, 9090, 10,278. That all the things which 
appear in the heavens are according to correspondences, and are called representatives, 
nn. 3213—3216, 3342, 3475, 3485, 9481, 9574, 9576, 9577. That all things which corre- 
spond, represent also, and likewise signifv, nn. 2896, 2987, 2988, 2989, 2990, 3002,. 
3225. 

(*) That a garden and paradise signify intelligence and wisdom, nn. 100, 108, 3220. 
What is meant by the garden of Ed^n and the garden of Jehovah, nn. 99, 100, 1588. 
Of paradisiacal scenes in the other life, and how magnificent they are, nn. 1122, 1622, 
2296, 4528, 4529. That trees signifv perceptions and knowledges,' f»-otn which wisdom 
and intelligence are derived, nn. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692. That fruits sigjufy 
the goods of love and eharity, np. 3146, 3690, 9337. 

83 



177 179 HEAVEN. 



OF THE CLOTHES m WHICH THj: ANGELS ARE DRESSED. 

177. Since angels are men, and live in society as men on earth 
do, it follows that they have clothes, houses, and other things of 
that nature ; differing, however, from those of men on earth, by 
being more perfect, because angels exist in a more perfect state. 
For as the wisdom of angels so far exceeds that of men as to be 
called ineffable, so also does every thing which is perceived by 
them and appears to them ; because all things which are per- 
ceived by the angels, and which appear to them, correspond to 
their wisdom. (See above, n. 173.) 

178. The clothes, in which the angels are dressed, like other 
things connected with them, are in correspondence ; and being 
in correspondence, they have a real existence. (See above, n. 
175.) Their clothes correspond to their intelligence ; where- 
fore all the inhabitants of heaven appear in dresses that accord 
with their intelligence ; and as, iii intelligence, one excels an- 
other, so one has better clothes than another. The most intel- 
ligent wear clothes that glow as if from flame, and some wear 
dresses that shine as if from light : the less intelligent have 
garments of clear or of opake white not shining ; and the less 
intelligent still wear clothes of different colors ; but the angels 
of the inmost heaven are naked. 

179. Since the garments of the angels correspond to their 
intelligence, they also correspond to truth, since all intelligence 
is derived from the Divine Truth ; whether, therefore, you say 
that the angels are clothed in accordance with their intelligence 
or in accordance with the Divine Truth as received by them, it 
amounts to the same. The reason that the dresses of some 
glow as from flame, or shine as from light, is, because flame 
corresponds to good, and light to truth derived from good :(*) 
and the reason that the garments of some are of a clear or of an 
opake white not shining, or of different colors, is, because the 
Divine Good and Truth are less refulgent, and also are various- 
ly received among the less intelligent.(^) White, also, both 
clear and opake, corresponds to truth, (^) and colors to its varie- 
ties.(^) The reason that, in the inmost heaven, the inhabitants 

(*) That garments, in the Word, signify truths, from correspondence, nn. lo78, 
2576, 6319, 5554, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10,536. Because truths invest good, n. 5248. That 
a veil or covering signifies the intellectual principle, because the intellect is tlie re- 
cipient of truth, n. 6378. That l)right garments of fine linen signify truths derived 
from the Divine Being, nn. 5319, 9469. That flame signifies spiritual good, and the 
light thence issuing, truth from that good, nn. 3222, 6832. 

(') That angels and spirits appear clothed with garments according to the truths 
possessed by tnem, thus according to their intelligence, nn. 165, 6248, 5954, 9212, 9216, 
9814, 9952, 10,536. That the garments of the angels in some cases possess sj fendor, 
and in some cases do not, n. 5248. 

(•) That brightness and whiteness, in the Word, signify truth, because derived 
from the light of heaven, nn. 3301, 3993, 4007. 

(*) That colors, in heaven, are variegations of the light there, nn. 1042, 1043, 1058, 
1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922. That colors signify various things which relate to intol- 

84 



HEAVEN. 18(1, 181 

are naked, is, because they are grounded in innocence, and in- 
nocence corresponds to nakedness.(^) 

180. Since the angels wear clothes in heaven, they also ap- 
peared in clothes when they were seen in the w^orld ; as in the 
case of those who appeared to the prophets, and also of those 
who were seen at the Lord's sepulchre, lohose countenance was 
like lightning^ and their garments white a/nd shining (Matt. 
xxviii. 3 ; Mark xvi. 5 ; Luke xxvi. 4 ; John xx. 12^ ; with those 
seen by John in heaven, whose garments were oijine linen^ and 
white (Rev. xix. 11 ; iv. 4). Intelligence being derived from 
the Divine Truth, therefore the Lord's garments, when he was 
transfigured, became glittering, and white as the light. (Matt, 
xvii. 2 ; Mark ix. 3 ; Luke ix. 29. That light is the Divine 
Truth proceeding from the Lord, may be seen above, n. 129.) 
It is on this account that garments, in the Word, signify truths, 
and intelligence derived from them, as in John : They " loho 
have not defiled their garments^ — shall walk with Me in white^ 
for they are worthy. He that overcometh^ the same shall he 
clothed in white raimeyit^ — (Rev. iii. 4, 5.) " Blessed is he 
that watcheth^ and keepeth his garments^ — (Ch. xvi. 15.) And 
of Jerusalem, by which is meant the church that is grounded 
in truth,(^*) it is thus written in Isaiah : "• Awake^ put on thy 
strength., Zion'y put on thyheautiful garments., Jerusalem^ — 
(Ch. Iii. 1.) So in Ezekiel : " I girded thee about with fine linen., 
and I covered thee with silk. — Thy raiment was of fiMe linen 
and silk.^'* — (Ch. xvi. 10, 13.) And in many other places. A 
person, however, who is not grounded in truths, is said not to 
be clothed with a wedding-garment ; as in Matthew : " And 
when the king came in^ — he saw there a man that had not on a 
^C'd ding-garment : and he said unto him., Friend., how earnest 
thou in hither not having a wedding-garment f — Cast him into 
outer darkness^ — (Ch. xxii. 11, 12, 13.) By the house where 
the marriage was celebrated, is meant heaven and the church, 
on account of the conjunction of the Lord with them by His 
Divine Truth ; wherefore, in the Word, the Lord is called the 
Bridegroom and Husband, and heaven and the church the bride 
and wife. 

181. The garments of the angels do not merely appear aa 
garments, but are such in reality. This is evident from these 
circumstances : that they not only see them, but also feel them ; 

ligenee and wisdom, nn. 4530, 4922, 9466. That the precious stones in the Urim and 
the Thummim, according to their colors, signified all things of truth derived from 
grood in the heavens, nn. 9865, 9868, 9905. That colors, so nir as they partake of red- 
ness, signify good, and so far as they partake of white, signify truth, n. 9476. 

(') That all who dwell in the inmost heaven are forms of innocence, and that there- 
fore they appear naked, nn. 154, 165, 297, 2736, 3887, 8375, 9960. That innocence is 
represented in the heavens by nakedness, nn. 165, 8875, 9960. That to the innocent 
and the chaste nakedness is no shame, because without oflfencse, nn. 165, 213, 8375. 

(•) That Jerusalem signifies the church, in which is genuine doctrine, nn. 402, 3654, 
9166. 

85 



182, 183 HEAVEN 

that they possess many of them; that tliey jut them off, and 
put them on ; and that when they are not in use, they lay them 
by, and, when in use, take them again. That they w^ear differ- 
ent dresses, I have witnessed a thousand times. I inquired 
whence they obtained them ; and they told me, from the Lord ; 
that they receive them as gifts ; and that they sometimes are 
clothed with them, without knowing, themselves, how it has 
been done. They said, also, that their garments are changed 
according to their own changes of state ; and that, in their first 
and second states, their garments are shining and of a clear 
white, but, in their third and fourth states, are a little more 
dull ; and that this, likewise, occurs from correspondence, be- 
cause their changes of state are changes with respect to intelli- 
gence and wisdom. (On which, see above, nn. 154 — 161.) 

182. Since every one in the spiritual world has clothes in ac- 
cordance wdth his intelligence, thus in accordance with the 
truths from which his intelligence is derived, it follows that the 
inhabitants of the hells, being destitute of truths, do indeed 
appear in some sort of clothes, but such as are ragged, filthy, 
and disgusting, according to every one's insanity ; nor can they 
wear any others. That they should have some sort of clothing 
is granted them by the Lord, that they may not appear naked. 



OF THE HABITATIONS AND MANSIONS OF THE ANGELS, 

183. Since in heaven there are societies, and the angels Kac 
as men do, it follows that they also have habitations, and that 
these are of different kinds according to every one's state of 
life ; thus that those who are in a state of higher dignity have 
magnificent habitations, and those in lower, such as are not so 
magnificent. I have sometimes conversed with the angels re- 
specting the habitations in heaven, and have observed that 
scarcely any person will believe, at the present day, that they 
have houses and mansions ; some denying the fact, because 
they do not see them ; some, because they are ignorant that 
angels are men ; some, because they suppose the heaven of 
angels to be the heaven that they behold with their eyes above 
and around them ; and as this appears to be empty space, aijd 
they suppose the angels to be nierely ethereal forms, they con- 
clude that they live in the ether. Besides, they cannot conceive 
how there can be, in the spiritual world, such objects as exist in 
the natural world, because they are in entire ignorance respect- 
ing what that which is spiritual is. The angels replied, that 
they are aware that such ignorance prevails at the present time 
in the world, and especially (what astonished them) with; a the 
church, where it possesses the intelligent much more than tbo^ 
86 



i 



HEAVEN. 183, 184 

whom they call the simple. Thej said, fm-ther, that those who 
are in such ignorance might nevertheless know from the Word 
that angels are men, because such of them as have been seen 
were seen as men ; as was the Lord also, who took witli him 
the whole of His Humanity : and that it might likewise be 
known, since angels are men, that thej have mansions and 
habitations, and do not, as some suppose in their ignorance, 
which the angels call insanity, flit about in the air, nor are mere 
puffs of wind, notwithstanding their being called " spirits."* 
The angels added, likewise, that thev who form such notions 
might nevertheless comprehend the truth, as just stated, would 
thej only think on tiie subject independently of their precon- 
ceived notions respecting angels and spirits ; as is done when 
they do not first raise the question, wliether it is so^ and make 
this the immediate subject of their thoughts. For the idea is 
common to every one, that angels are in human form, and that 
they have dwellings, Avhich they call the abodes of heaven, that 
are far more magnificent than the abodes of earth : but this idea, 
common to all, which is the result of an influx from heaven, is 
instantly annihilated when the question, whether it is so^ is 
placed directly before the view, and is made the central object 
of the thoughts. This is chiefly done by the learned, who, by 
their self-derived intelligence, have shut heaven against them 
selves, and have closed the avenue by which its light might 
enter. The belief respecting the life of man after death under- 
goes the same fate. When a person speaks on this subject, not 
thinking at the time from his acquired learning respecting the 
soul, nor from the doctrine of its reunion with the body, he 
believes that he shall live after death as a man, and, if he has 
led a good life, in company with the angels ; and that he shall 
then behold magnificent objects, and partake of transporting 
joys. But as soon as he reverts to the doctrinal notion of re- 
union with the body, or to the common hypothesis about the 
soul ; and the thought occurs whether the soul is of such a na- 
ture, and thus the question is raised, whether it is so j his for 
mer idea is dissipated. 

18:1:. But it is better to adduce the evidence of experience. 
Whenever I have orally conversed with the angels, I have been 
with them in their habitations. These are exactly like the 
habitations on earth which are called houses, but more beauti- 
ful. They contain chambers, withdrawing-rooms, and bed- 
chambers, in great numbers : they have courts to them, and are 
encompassed with gardens, flower-beds, and fields. Where the 
angels live together in societies, the habitations are contiguous, 
one adjoining another, and arranged in the form of a city, wdth 
streets, roads, and squares, exactl}^ like the cities on our earth. 

* It is to be remembered that the word' for a spirit, in the ancient languages, likt 
* ghost" ill our own, prin.^rilv signifies hreatli, or wind. — N. 

87 



185, 180 HEAVEN. 

It has also Deeu granted me t^ walk through them, and to look 
about on all sides, and occasionally to enter the houses. This 
occurred to me "when wide awake, my interior sight being open 
at the time.(*) 

185. I have seen palaces in heaven, so magnificent as to sur- 
pass all description. The upper parts were refulgent, as if built 
of pure gold ; and the lower parts, as if constructed of precious 
stones. Some palaces were more splendid than others. The 
inside was suitable to the outside ; the apartments were orna- 
mented with such decorations, that neither language nor science 
is adequate to the description of them. On the side which 
looked towards the south, were paradises, all the objects in 
which were similarly resplendent. In some places, the leaves of 
the trees were as if formed of silver, and the fruit as of gold : 
the flowers, as arranged in beds, presented, by their colors, the 
appearance of rainbows : and beyond the boundaries other pal- 
aces were seen, which terminated the view. Sucb is the archi- 
tecture of heaven, that you would say you there behold the very 
art itself, and no wonder ; for it is from heaven that that art is 
derived to men on earth. The angels said, that such objects as 
have been mentioned, and innumerable others still more perfect, 
are presented before their eyes by the Lord : but that, neverthe- 
less, they impart more pleasure to their mind than to their 
eyes ; because, in every particular, they behold correspondences ; 
and, through those correspondences, things Divine. 

186. Respecting these correspondences, I have also been in- 
formed, that not only the palaces and houses, but all things, to 
the most minute particulars, both within them and without 
them, correspond to the interior things which are in the angels 
from the Lord : that the house itself in general corresponds to 
their good, and all the objects within it to the various particu- 
lars of which their good is composed ;(2) and those without 
the house to their truths derived from good, and also, their 
perceptions and knowledges ; and since those objects corre- 
spond to the goods and truths which they possess from the Lord, 
that they correspond to their love, and to their wisdom and in- 
telligence thence derived, since love relates to good, wisdom to 
good and at the same time to truth, and intelligence to truth 
derived from good ; and that since it is such things as these 
of which the angels have a perception when they view those 

(') That the angels hvxe cities, palaces, and houses, nn. 940, 941, 942, 1116, 1626, 
1627, 1628, 1630, 1631, 4622. 

(") That houses, with the things within them, signifv- tliose things appertaining to 
man whicli belong to his mind, thus to his interiors, *nn. 710, 2233, 2331, 2559, 3128, 
3538, 4973, 5023, 6106, 6690, 7353, 7848, 7910, 7929, 9150. Consequently, which relate 
to good and truth, nn. 2233, 2331, 2559, 4982, 7848, 7929. That inner rooms and 
bed'-ehambcrs signifv interior things, nn. 8900, 5694, 7353. That the roof of a 
house signifies what' is inmost, nn. 3C52, 10,184. That a house of wood signifies 
those things which belong to good, and a house of stone, those things which belong 
touuth, n. 3720. 
88 



HEAVEN. 187—190 

objects, tbej delight and affect their minds more than their 
eyes. 

187. This makes it evident why the Lord declared Himselt 
to be the temple that was at Jerusalem(^) (John ii. 19, 21) ; 
and why the New Jerusalem was seen as if built of pure gold, 
her gates of pearls, and her foundations of precious stones (Kev. 
xxi.) : it was because the temple represented the Lord's Divine 
Humanity ; and the ISTew Jerusalem signifies the church which 
is to be hereafter established ; its twelve gates, truths leading to 
good ; and its foundations, the truths upon which it is based. ("*) 

188. The angels of whom the Lord's celestial kingdom is 
composed, dwell, lor the most part, in elevated situations, which 
appear like mountains composed of earthy substance. The 
angels w^ho compose the Lord's spiritual kingdom dwell in 
situations not so elevated, which appear like hills. But the 
angels who occupy the lowest parts of heaven, dwell in places 
which appear like rocks composed of stones. These circum- 
stances, also, exist from correspondence ; for things interior 
correspond to things superior ; and things exterior to things in- 
ferior.(^) It is on this account that mountains, in the Word, 
signify celestial love ; hills, spiritual love ; and rocks, faith. (^) 

189. There also are angels who do not live in societies, but 
separate, a house here, and a house there. These dwell in the 
central part of heaven ; for they are the best of the angels. 

190. The houses in which the angels reside are not built by 
manual labor, as houses are in the world, but are given them 
gratis by the Lord, according to the reception of good and truth 
by each. They also undergo some slight variations, according 
to the changes of the state of the interiors of their inhabitants. 
''Of which, see above, nn. 154 — 160.) All things whatever that 

he angels possess, they ascribe to the Lord as his gifts ; and 
A^hatever they have need of, is bestow^ed upon them. 

(') That the house of God, in the supreme sense, signifies the Divine Humanity of 
the Lord, as to divine good, but the temple, as to divine truth; and, in the respective 
sense, lieaveii and the church as to good and truth, n. 3720. 

(*) That Jerusalem signifies the church in which is genuine doctrine, nn. 402, 3654, 
9166. That gates signify introduction to the doctrine of the church, and by doctrine 
into the church, nn. 2943, 4477. That a foundation signifies the truth, on which 
heaven, the church, and doctrine, are founded, n. 9643. 

(*) Tliat, in the Word, interior things are expressed by suoerior, and that superior 
things signify things interior, nn. 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325. That high signifies 
what is internal, and likewise heaven, nn. 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599, 8153. 

(*) That in heaven there appear mountains, hilLs, rocks, valleys, and countries, 
altogether as in the world, n. 10,608. That on mountains dwell the angels who are in 
the good of love, on hills those who are in the good of charity, on rocks those who are 
in the good of faith, n. 10,438. That therefore by mountains, in the Word, is signified 
the good of love, nn. 795, 4210, 6435, 8327, 8758, 10,438, 10,608. Bv hills, the good of 
charity, nn. 6435, 10,438. By rocks, the good and truth of faith, nn. 8581, 10,580. 
TliAt stone, of which a rock consists, in like manner signifies tlie truth of faith, nn. 
114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10,376. Hence it is that by mountains is signified 
beaven, nn. 8327, 8805, 9420. And by the top of a mountain the supreme of heaven, 
on. 9422, 9434, 10,608. That therefore the ancients celebrated holy worship oij 
monntainSf nn. 796, 2722. 

89 



191 — 195 HEAVEN. 



OF SPACE m HEAVEN. 



191. Although all things in heaven appear in place ivnd in 
space, exactly as they do in the world, still the angels have no 
notion or idea of place and space. As this cannot but appear 
as a paradox, and it is a matter of great moment, I am desirous 
to place it in a clear point of view. 

192. All progressions in the spiritual world are effected by 
changes of the state of the interiors, so that these progressions 
are no other than changes of state.(^) In this manner, also, I 
have been conveyed by the Lord into the heavens, and also, to 
various earths in the universe ; this being effected as to my 
spirit, my body still remaining in the same j)lace.{^ It is thus 
that all angels effect their progressions. Hence, with them, there 
are no distances ; and if there are no distances, neither are 
there any spaces ; but, instead of them, there are states, and 
their changes. 

193. As it is thus that progressions are effected, it is evident, 
that approximations are similitudes as to the state of the in- 
teriorsj and that removals are dissimilitudes. Hence, those are 
near each other who are in a similar state, and those are far 
apart whose state is dissimilar; and spaces in heaven are nothing 
but external states corresponding to internal ones. This is the 
only cause that the heavens are distinct from each other ; as, 
also, the societies of every heaven, and all the angels in a society. 
This also is the cause that the hells are so completely separated 
from the heavens ; for they are in a contrary state. 

194. It is likewise from this cause, that, in the spiritual world, 
one person becomes present to another, provided, only, he in- 
tensely desires it ; for he thus views the other in thought, and 
puts himself in his state. And, vice versa^ that one person is 
I'emoved from another in proportion as he holds him in aversion ; 
and as all aversion proceeds from contrariety of affections and 
disagreement of thoughts, it hence results, that many who are 
there in one place, so long as they agree, appear to each other ; 
whereas, as soon as they disagree, they disappear. 

195. When, also, any one proceeds from one place to another, 

(') That, in the Word, places and spaces signiij states, nn. 2625, 288T, 3356, 8887", 
7381, 10,580; from experience, nn. 1274, 1277, 1376—1881, 4321, 4882,10,146, 10,580. 
That distance signifies the difference of the state of life, nn. 9104, 9967. That motion 
and changes of place, in the spiritual world, are changes of the state of life, because 
they originate in them, nn. 1278, 1274, 1275, 1877, 8856, 9440. In like manner jonrney- 
ings, nn. 9440, 10,784 ; illustrated by experience, nn. 1278 — 1277, 5605. That hence, 'in 
the Word, to journey, signifies to live, and likewise a progression of life ; in like 
manner, to sojourn, nn. 3335, 4554, 4585, 4882, 5493, 5605, 5996, 8345, 8897, 8417, 8420, 
8557. That to go with the Lord, is to live with Him, n. 10,567. 

{^) That man, as to his spirit, may be led to a distance afar off by changes of state, 
whilst his body remains in its place ; also, from experience, nn. 9440, 9967, 10,734 
*^'hat it; it to be brcught by the spirit into another place, n. 1884. 

90 



HEAVEN. 196, 197 

whetlier in his own city, or in the courts, or the gardens, or to 
others out of his own society, he arrives sooner when he desires 
it, and hiter when he does not. The way itself is lengthened or 
shortened according to tlie strength of the desire, though it is 
the same all the while. This I have often witnessed, and have 
wondered at. From these facts it again is evident, that distances, 
and consequently spaces, exist with the angels altogether accord- 
ing to the states of their interiors; and such being the fact, that 
the notion and idea of space cannot enter their thoughts ; al- 
though spaces exist with them equally as in the world.(^) 

19(3. This may be illustrated by the thoughts of man : for 
neither are these connected with spaces, but those things on 
which he intently fixes his thoughts become to him as present. 
It is known, also, to him who reflects on it, that neither are 
spaces cognizable by the sight, otherwise than as discovered by 
intervening objects on the earth that he sees at the same time, 
or from his knowing that those objects are at such and such a 
distance. This occurs, because space is continuous, and in what 
is continuous, distance does not appear, except from the occur- 
rence of objects that are not continuous. Still m.ore is this the 
case with the angels, because their sight acts as oi^ie with 
their thought, and their thought with their afiection ; and be- 
cause things near and remote appear such, and also undergo 
variations, according to the state of their interiors ; as observed 
above. 

197. It is on this account that, in the AVord, by places and 
spaces, and by all the things that partake in any respect of 
space, are signified such things as relate to state. Such, there- 
fore, is the case with distances, nearness, remoteness, wajs, 
journeys, and sojournings ; with miles and furlongs; with plains, 
fields, gardens, cities, and streets ; with motions ; with measures 
of various kinds ; with length, breadth, height, and depth ; and 
with innumerable other things : for most things which exist with 
man in his thoughts derived from the world, partake, in some 
way, of space and time. I will only mention what is signified 
in the Word by length, breadth, and height. In the world, long 
and broad, and high likewise, are predicated of objects which 
are such in respect to space : but in heaven, where the thoughts 
of the inhabitants do not partake of space, by length is under- 
stood a state of good, by breadth a state of truth, and by height, 
their distinctions in regard to degrees. (Respecting degrees, 
see above, n. 38.) The reason that those three dimensions have 
such significations, is, because heaven, in length, extends from 
east to west, which quarters are inhabited by those who are 
grounded more especially in the good of love ; and breadth, in 
heaven, is its extension from south to north, which quarters are 

(') That places and spaces are presented visibly according to the states of the ia- 
teriors of au2:els and spirits, nn. 5605, 9440, 10,146*. 

91 



198, 199 HEAVEN. 

inhabited by those who are more particularly grounded in truth 
derived from good ; and height, in heaven, denotes both good 
and truth, according to degrees. (See above, n. 148.) It is on 
this account that such things are signified by length, breadth, 
and height, in the Word. Thus, in Ezekiel (Chs. xl. — xlviii.), 
by the new temple and the new earth, with the courts, cham- 
bers, doors, gates, windows, and suburbs, which are described 
with their dimensions as to length, breadth, and neight, is sig- 
nified a new church, with the goods and truths to be enjoyed in 
it : why, else, should all those measures be enumerated ? The 
New Jerusalem is described in the Revelation in a similar man- 
ner, in these words : " And the city lietJi four-square^ and the 
length is as large as the hreadth. And he measured the city with 
the reed^ twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the hreadth 
and the height of it are equaiy — (Ch. xxi. 16.) Here, by the 
New Jerusalem, is signified a new church, whence by its dimen- 
sions are signified particulars belonging to the church ; by its 
length being signified its good of love, by its breadth, its truth 
derived from that good, by its height, its good and truth as to 
their degrees, and by twelve thousand furlongs, all good and 
truth taken collectively ; otherwise, what sense would there be 
in the statement, that its height was twelve thousand furlongs, 
the same as its length and breadth ? That, in the Word, by 
breadth is signified truth, is evident in David : Thou " hast not 
shut me up into the hand of the enemy j thou hast set 'my foot in 
a large room f'' — more literally, "m a hroad jplaceP — (Ps. xxxi. 
8.) " / called upon Jehovah in distress'^ — literally, " out of a 
narrow place ;" — ''''Jehovah answered me, and set me in a large 
place''' — ^literally, "(Z hroad place?'' — (Ps. cxviii. 5.) Not to 
mention other passages, as Isa. viii. 8 ; Hab. i. 6. 

198. From these remarks it may be seen, that although spaces 
exist in heaven as well as in the world, still nothing is there 
reckoned by spaces, but by states ; consequently, that spaces 
cannot there be measured, as is done in the world, but only be 
seen from, and according to, the state of the interiors of the in- 
habitants. (^) 

199. The very first and most essential cause of all this is, 
that the Lord is present with every one according to his love 
and faith, (^) and that all things appear either near or remote 
according to His presence ; for it is by this that the situation of 
all things in the heavens is determined. By this, also, the 
angels have their wisdom ; for it is by this that they experience 
an extension of thoughts, and thereby a communication of all 

(*) That, in the Word, length signifies good, nn. 1613, 9487. That breadth signifies 
truth, nn. 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487, 10,179. That height signifies good and truth 
as to degrees, nn. 9489, 9773, 10,181. 

(') Tliat the conjunction and presence of the Lord with the angels are aicording to 
the reception of love and charity from Him, nn. 290, 681, 1964, 2658, 2886. 2388, 2889, 
8001, 3741, 3742, 3743, 4318, 4319, 4524, 7211, 9128. 

92 



HEAVEN. 200—202 

things that exist in the heavens. In OLe word, it is throngh 
this that thej think in a spiritual manner, and not in a natural 
manner, as men do. 



OF THE FORM OF HEAVEN, ACCORDING TO WHICH THE CONSO- 
CIATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS OF THE INHABITANTS ARE 
ARRANGED. 

200. The nature of the form of heaven may in some measure 
appear from what has been shown in some preceding Sections ; 
as, That heaven is like itself in its greatest forms and in its 
least (n. 72), whence every society is a heaven on a s mallei 
scale, and every angel is a heaven in miniature (nn. 51 — 58) : 
That as heaven collectively is as one man, so every society is as 
a man on a smaller scale, and every angel on the smallest (nn. 
59 — 77) : That in the midst dwell the most wise, and in the cir- 
cumferences, by degrees, extending to the boundaries, those 
who are less wise ; and that it is the same in every society (n. 
4:3) : and That those who are especially grounded in the good 
of love have their abodes in heaven, from the east to the west ; 
and those who are especially grounded in truths derived from 
good, from the south to the north ; and the same in every so- 
ciety (nn. 148, 149). All these arrangements take place accord- 
ing to the form of heaven ; from which, therefore, a conclusion 
may be drawn respecting the nature of that form in general.(^) 

201. It is of importance to know what is the nature of tlie 
form of heaven, because not only are all its inhabitants arranged 
in society according to that form, but, likewise, all communica- 
tion takes place according to it, and thence, also, all diffusion of 
thoughts and affections, consequently, all the intelligence and 
wisdom of the angels. On this account, in proportion as any 
one exists in the form of heaven, thus, in proportion as he is a 
form of heaven, he is in the enjoyment of wisdom. Whether 
we speak of being in the form of heaven, or in the order of 
heaven, it amounts to the same ; since the form of every thing 
results from its order, and is according to it.(^) 

202. Something shall now be first offered, respecting v/hat is 
meant by being in the fomn of heaven. Man was created after 
the image of heaven and the image of the world ; his internal 
being created after the image of heaven, and his external after 
that of the world. (See above, n. 57.) Whether we say, " after 

(*) Thi t tlie universal heaven, as to all the angelic societies, is arranged by the Lord 
according to His divine order, inasmuch as the Divine Sphere of the Lord abiding 
with the angels constitutes heaven, nn. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10,125, 10,151, 10,157 
Of the form of heaven, nu. 4040, 4041, 4042, 4043, 6607, 9877. 

(') That the form of heaven is according to divine order, nn. 4040 — 4043, 6607, 9877. 

93 



202, 203 HEAVEN. 

the image," or, " according to the form," it is the same thing. 
But as man, by the evils of his will, and by the falsities of hie 
thought thence derived, has destroyed in himself the image, 
consequently the form, of heaven, and has introduced in their 
place the image and form of hell, his internal is closed from the 
time of his birth ; which is the reason that man, differently 
from all kinds of animals, is born into mere ignorance. In or- 
der, therefore, that the image or form of heaven should be 
restored in him, he must be instructed in such matters as belong 
to order ; for, as remarked above, according to the order is the 
form. The Word contains all the laws of Divine order, those 
laws being the precepts therein delivered ; in proportion, there- 
fore, as man becomes acquainted with these precepts, and lives 
according to them, his internal is opened, and the order or 
image of heaven is there formed anew. We now may see what 
is meant by being in the form of heaven : namely, that it con- 
sists in living according to the truths contained in the Word.(^) 
203. So far as any one exists in the form of heaven, he 
actually is in heaven, and is, himself, a heaven in miniature 
(n. 57). Consequently, also, he is so far in the enjoyment of 
intelligence and wisdom: for, as stated above, every thought 
that belongs to his understanding, and every affection that 
belongs to his will, diffuse themselves into heaven in every 
direction, according to its form, and communicate in a wonder- 
ful manner with the societies that exist there ; as do these, 
reciprocally, with him.(*) There are some who imagine that 
their thoughts and affections do not actually diffuse themselves 
around them, but are inclosed within them, because they see 
what they think inwardly in themselves, and not as a distant 
object. But this is a great mistake: for as the sight of the eye 
extends itself to remote objects, and is affected according to the 
order of the things which it beholds in such extended vision, so 
likewise, does man's interior sight, w^hich is that of the under- 
standing, extend itself in the spiritual world, although he is not 
sensible of it, for the reason explained above (n. 196). The 

(') That divine truths are the laws of order, nn. 2447, 7995. That man, so far as he 
lives according to order, thus so far as he is principled in good according to divine 
truths, becomes a man, nn. 4839, 6605, 6626. That man is the being into whom aie 
collated all things of divine order, and that from creation he is divine order in a form, 
nn. 4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 5368, 6013, 6)57, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10,156, 10,472. 
That man is not born into good and truth, but into evil and falsitv, thus into what is 
contrary to divine order ; and that hence he is born into mere ignorance, and there- 
fore it is necessary that he be born anew, that is, be regenerated, which is etfected by 
divine truths from the Lord, that he niav be inaugurated into order, nn. 1047, 2307, 
2308, 3518, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286, 10,731. That the Lord, when Hp 
forms rnau anew, that is, regenerates him, arranges all things in him according to 
order, which is, into the form of heaven, nn. 5700, 6690. 9931, 10,303. 

(*) That every one in heaven has communication of life, which may be called a dif- 
fusion into the angelic societies aroui^l, according to the quantity and quality of liia 
gcod, nn. 8794, 8797. That thoughts and affections have such ditfusion, nn. 2475. 
6598—6613. That they are conjoined an I disjoined according to the ruling allfection;^' 
n. 4111. 

94: 



HEAVEN. 203, 204 

only difference is, that the sight of the eye is affected in a natu- 
ral manner, because by such things as exist in the natural 
\vorld ; whereas the sight of the understanding is aU'ected in a 
spiritual manner, because by such things as exist in the spiritual 
world, all of which have relation to good and truth. The reason 
that man is not aware that such is the fact, is, because he is not 
aware that there exists a light which illuminates the understand- 
ing ; although, were there not such a light, man would be ab- 
solutely unable to think at all. (Kespecting that light, see above, 
nn. 126 — 132.) There was a certain spirit who Ihus imagined 
that he exercised thought from himself, consequently, w^ithout 
any diffusion of his thoughts beyond himself, or any communi- 
cation, by such means, with societies existing without himself. 
To convince him that he was in error, the communication be- 
tween him and the societies nearest to him was taken away ; 
upon which he not only was deprived of thought, but fell down 
as if dead, only throwing his arms about like a new-born infant. 
Afler some time, the communication was restored ; upon which 
he gradually, as the restoration w^as effected, returned into a 
state capable of thinking. Some other spirits, who witnessed 
this experiment, thereupon confessed that all thought and affec- 
tion enter by influx, according to such communication ; and, 
since all thought and affection thus enter, so, also, does the all 
of life ; since the all of man's life consists in his capacity ot 
thinking and being affected, or, what amounts to the same, in 
his capacity of exercising understanding and will.(-^) 

204. But it is to be understood, that intelligence and wisdom 
vary with every one, according to the nature of the communica- 
tion that he experiences. Those whose intelligence and wisdom 
are formed of genuine truths and goods, have communication 
■with societies according to the form of heaven : w^hereas those 
whose intelligence and wisdom are not formed of genuine truths 
and goods, but still of such as harmonize with genuine ones, 
have a communication that is interrupted, and is only kept up 
in an irregular manner, because not maintained with societies 
in such a series as the form of heaven exists in. But those who 
do not possess intelligence and wisdom, being immersed in falsi- 
ties derived from evil, have communication with societies in 

(") That there is onlv one sincfle Life, from which all live, both in heaven and in the 
world, nn. 1954, 2021, 2536. 2658, 2886—2889, 3001, 8484, 3742, 5847, 6467. That that 
life is from the Lord alone, 'nn. 2886—2889, 3344, 3484, 4319, 4320, 4524, 4882, 5986, 
6325, 6468, 6469, 6470, 9276, 10,196. That it flows into angels, spirits, and men, in a 
wonderful manner, nn. 2886— 28S9, 3837, 3338, 3484, 3742. That the Lord flows, in 
from His divine love, which is of such a nature, that what is His own He wills should 
be another's, nn. 3742, 4320. That for this reason, life appears as if it was in man, 
and not as if it were influent, nn. 3742, 4320. Of the joys of the angels, as perceived, 
and confirmed by what they told me, that they do not live from themselves, but from 
the Lord, n. 6469. That tlie wicked are not \villing to be convinced that life enters by 
influx, n. 3743. That life from the Lord flows, also, into the wicked, nn. 2706, 3743, 
4417, 10,196. But that they turn good into evil and truth into falsity ; for according 
to man's qualitv, such is his reception of life ; illustrated, nn. 4319, 4320, 4417. 

95 



205—207 HEAVEN. 

hell. The extensiveness of the communication is in proportion 
to the degree of confirmation. It is further to be understood, 
that this communication with societies is not such as comes 
manifestly to the perception of those who compose them, but is 
a communication with their quality, that is, with the quality in 
which they are grounded, and which proceeds from them.(^) 

205. All in heaven are connected in society according to 
spiritual affinities, which are those of good and truth in their 
order. It is thus in heaven regarded as a whole : it is thus in 
every society ; and it is thus in every house. It is from this 
cause that the angels who are grounded in good and truth of 
similar quality recognize one another, as those related by con- 
sanguinity and affinity do on earth, just as if they had known 
each other from infancy. The goods and truths which constitute 
intelligence and wisdom, are connected in the same manner 
with every individual angel : they recognize each other in the 
same manner ; and as they recognize each other, so, also, do 
they join themselves together. (') From the same cause those 
with whom truths and goods are conjoined according to the 
form of heaven, see the consequences flowing from them in their 
series, and have an extensive view of their coherence in all di- 
rections. Not so those with whom goods and truths are not 
conjoined according to the form of heaven. 

206. Such, in each heaven, is the form, according to which 
the communication and diffusion of the thoughts and affections 
of the angels exist, thus according to which they have intelli- 
gence and wisdom. But the communication between one heaven 
and another, as between the third or inmost and the second or 
middle, and between both these and the first or ultimate, is 
different. But the communication between the different heavens 
ought not to be termed communication, but influx. Respecting 
this something shall now be offered. (That there are three 
heavens, and that they are distinct from each other, may be 
seen in its proper Section above, (nn. 29 — 40). 

207. That there is not a communication between the different 
heavens, but an influx from one into another, may be obvious 
from their respective situations. The third or inmost heaven is 
situated above, the second or middle heaven is below, and the 
first or ultimate heaven is further below still. All the societies 
of each heaven are arranged in a similar manner. Thus, for in- 
stance, in those societies that are located in elevated situations, 
which appear like mountains (n. 188), those angels dwell on the 

(•) That thought diffuses itself into the societies of spirits and of angels round 
about, nn. 6600 — 6605. That still it does not move and disturb the thoughts of those 
societies, nn. 6601, 6603. 

(') That good acknowledges its truth, and truth its good, nn. 2429, 3101, 3102, 3161. 
?179, 3180, 4358, 5407, 5835, 9637. That hence is the conjunction rf good a id of 
truth, nn. 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623—7627, 7752- 77«2, 
8530, 9258, 10,555, And that this U from the influx of heaven, n. 9070. 

9B 



HEAVEN. 208, 209 

summits who belong to the inmost heaven ; below them are 
those who belong to the second heaven ; and below these, again, 
are those who belong to the ulthnate heaven. A similar ar- 
rangement prevails everywhere, whether in elevated situations 
or not. A society of a superior heaven has no communication 
with a society of an inferior heaven, except by correspondences 
(see above, n. 100) : and communication by correspondences is 
that which is called influx. 

208. One heaven is conjoined with another, or a society of 
one heaven with a society of another, by the Lord alone, by 
influx, both immediately and mediately — immediately, from 
Himself, and mediately, through the superior heavens, in order, 
into the inferior.(^) Since the conjunction of the heavens with 
each other by influx is the work of the Lord alone, it is most 
especially provided that no angel of a superior heaven should 
look down into a society of an inferior heaven, and converse 
with any of its inhabitants. As soon as he does so, the angel is 
deprived of his wisdom and intelligence. The cause of this, also, 
shall be stated. Every angel has three degrees of life, in the 
same manner as there are three degrees of heaven. Those who 
are in the inmost heaven have the third or inmost degree open, 
and the second and first shut : those who are in the middle 
heaven have the second degree open, and the first and third 
shut : and those who are in the ultimate heaven have the first 
degree open, and the second and third shut ; as soon, therefore, 
as an angel of the third heaven looks down into a society of the 
second heaven, and converses with any one there, his third de- 
gree is closed, and, when this is closed, he is deprived of his 
wisdom, because this resides in his third degree, and he does 
not possess any in his second and first. This is what is meant 
by the Lord's words in Matthew : ^''Let Mra that is on the house- 
top not come down to take any thing out of his house : neither 
let him that is in the field return hack to take his clothes.''^ — (Ch. 
xxiv. 18, 19.) And in Luke : "7^ that day^ he that is upon the 
house-top^ and his stuff in the house^ let him not come dovm to 
take it away : and he that is in the fields let him^ likewise^ not 
return hack, llememher Lofs wife^ — (Ch. xvii. 31, 32.) 

209. There is no influx from the inferior heavens into the 
superior, because this would be contrary to order : the influx 
proceeds from the superior heavens into the inferior. The wis- 
dom, also, of the angels of a superior heaven, exceeds that of the 
angels of an inferior heaven, in the proportion of ten thousand 
to one. This, also, is the reason, that the angels of an inferior 
heaven cannot converse with the angels of a superior heaven ; 

(") That there is immediate influx from the Lord, and mediate, by or through 
heaven, nn. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That the Lord's influx is immediate into 
the most particular things of all, nn. 6058, 6474r-6478, 8717, 8728. Of tho Lord'a 
mediate innux by or through th-c heavens, nn. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996. 

■ 1 97 



210—212 HEAVEN. 

indeed, when they look in that direction, thej do not see them : 
their heaven appears like something misty over their heads. 
The angels of a superior heaven can, however, see those who 
are in an inferior heaven, but are not at liberty to join in con- 
versation with them, except with the loss of their wisdom ; as 
stated above. 

210. Neither the thoughts and affections, nor yet the dis- 
course, of the angels of the inmost heaven, can possibly come to 
the perception of those in the middle heaven, because they so 
greatly transcend the capacity of the angels in that heaven. 
When, however, it is the Lord's good pleasure, a sort of flaming 
appearance proceeding thence is seen in the inferior heavens. 
So, the thoughts and affections, and discourses, of the angels in 
the middle heaven, cause a lucid appearance to be seen in the 
ultimate heaven, which sometimes assumes the form of a white 
or variously-colored cloud ; and by the appearance of that 
cloud, — its ascent, descent, and form, is also known, in some 
degree, the subject of their conversation. 

211. From these observations it may appear, of what nature 
is the form of heaven ; namely, that in the inmost heaven it is 
the most perfect of all ; that in the middle heaven, it also is per- 
fect, but in an inferior degree ; and, in the ultimate, in a degree 
still inferior; and that the form of one heaven derives its sub- 
sistence from that of another by an influx fron?i the Lord. But 
the nature of communication by influx cannot be comprehended; 
without a knowledge of the nature of degrees of altitude, and of 
the difference between these degrees and those of longitude and 
latitude. What is the nature of both these kinds of degrees, 
may be seen above (n. 38). 

212. The specific form of heaven, however, and the manner 
in which its motions and fluxions proceed, are subjects incom- 
prehensible to the angels themselves : yet some idea of it may 
be presented, by considering the form of all the parts in the 
human body, as surveyed and investigated by a man of sagacity 
and v/isdom. For it has been shown above, in proper Sections, 
that the whole of heaven is in form as one man (see nn. 59 — 72) ; 
and that all the parts that exist in man correspond to the heav- 
ens (nn. 87 — 102). How incomprehensible and inextricable 
that form is, may be concluded, though only in a general w^ay, 
from the nervous fibres, by compagination of which all the parts, 
fyenerally and individually, are formed. The nature of those 
fibres, and how their motions and fluxions proceed in the brain, 
cannot even be discerned by the eye ; for they are there in- 
numerable, and so folded together, that, taken collectively, they 
appear as a continuous soft mass ; and yet all things, both gen- 
erally and individually, which belong to the will and the under- 
standing, flow, according to those innumerable C(»mplicated 
fibres, most distinctly into acts. How these fibres, again, 

1)8 



HEAVEN. 212. 213 

wreathe themselves together in the body, appears from the vari- 
ous collections of them called plexus — such as the cardiac plex- 
us, those of the mesentery, and others. Ths same appears, 
also, from the knots of them called ganglions, into which enter 
many fibres from every province, mix themselves there to- 
gether, and thence go forth again, differently combined, to 
the performance of their functions ; — a process which is re- 
peated again and again. Not to mention similar wonders in 
every viscus, member, organ, and muscle. Whoever surveys 
these things, and many other wonders there displayed, with 
the eye of wisdom, must be filled with amazement : and yet 
the wonders that the eye sees are comparatively few: those 
which the eye cannot see, as belonging to interior nature, 
are more marvellous still. That this form corresponds to the 
form of heaven, manifestly appears from the operation of all 
things that belong to the understanding and will in it and ac- 
cording to it : for whatever a man wills, descends spontaneously, 
according to that form, into act ; and whatever he thinks, per- 
vades those fibres from their origins to their terminations, 
whence he has sensation : and as this form is that of the thought 
and will, it is the form of intelligence and wisdom. This form 
it is which corresponds to the form of heaven ; whence it may 
be known, that such is the form according to which every affec- 
tion and thought of the angels diffuses itself, and that they are 
in the possession of intelligence and wisdom in proportion as 
they exist in that form, lliat heaven derives this form from 
the Divine Humanity of the Lord, may be seen above (nn. 
78 — 86). These facts are adduced, that it may also be known, 
that the heavenly form is of such a nature, that it never can be 
exhausted even as to the most general things belonging to it ; 
and thus that it is incomprehensible to the angels themselves ; 
as observed above. 



OF GOVERNMENTS IN HEAVEN 

213. Since heaven is divided into societies, and the largei 
societies consist of some hundreds of thousands of angels (n. 50); 
and since all the members of one society are, indeed, grounded 
in similar good, but not in similar wisdom (n. 43) ; it recessa- 
rily follows, that, in heaven, there are governments also. For 
order is to be observed, and all things belonging to order are to 
be kept inviolable. But the governments in the heavens are 
various : they are different in the societies which constitute the 
Lord's celestial kingdom from what they are in the societies 
which constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom ; they differ, also, 

99 



214—216 HEAVEN. 

according to the ministries discharged by each society. In the 
heavens, however, no other government exists than that of mu- 
tual love ; and the government of mutual love is heavenly gov- 
ernment. 

214. The government in the Lord's celestial kingdom is 
cSiWed Justice or Righteousness ^' because all the subjects of that 
kingdom are grounded in the good of love, directed to the Lord, 
and derived from Him : and whatever is done from that good 
is called just or righteous. The government, there, is that of 
the Lord alone : He leads them, and instructs them in the mat- 
ters relating to life. The truths, which are called those of judg- 
ment, are inscribed on their hearts : every one knows them, 
perceives them, and sees them :(}) whence matters of judgment 
never are brought, there, into question, but only matters of 
justice or righteousness. Kespecting these, the less wise inter- 
rogate the more wise, and these the Lord, and obtain answers. 
Their heaven, or their inmost joy, consists in living justly or 
righteously from the Lord. 

215. The government in the Lord's spiritual kingdom is 
called Judgment^ because the subjects of this kingdom are 
grounded in spiritual good, which is the good of charity to- 
wards the neighbor : and this good, in its essence, is truth ;(''^) 
and truth belongs to judgment, and good to justice or righteous- 
ness. (^) These, also, are led by the Lord, but mediately (n. 208); 
w^herefore they have governors over them, few or more accord- 
ing to the needs of the society to w^hich they belong. They also 
have laws, according to which they are to regulate their social 
life. The governors administer all things according to the laws. 
Being wise, they understand them aright, and, in doubtful mat- 
ters, they receive illustration from the Lord. 

216. Since government from good, such as is exercised in the 
Lord's celestial kingdom, is called justice or righteousness, and 
government from tnith, such as is established in the Lord's 
spiritual kingdom, is called judgment, therefore, in the Word, 
justice or righteousness, and judgment, are mentioned, where 
the subject treated of is heaven and the church ; and by justice 

(') That the celestial angels do not think and speak from truths, like the spiritual 
angels, since they are in the perception of all things relating to truths from the Lord, 
nn. 202, 597. 607, 784, 1121, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10,336. That 
the celestial angels say, of truths. Yea, yea, Nay, nay ; but that the spiritual angels 
reason about them, whether the truth be so or not so, nn. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 
10,786 ; where the Lord's words are explained, '■'■Let your discourse be Yea, yea^ ^oy^ 
nay; for wJiatsoever is more than this, cometh of evil fMatt. v. 37). 

{^) That those who inhabit the Lord's spiritual Kingdom are principled in * ruths, 
and those who inhabit the celestial kingdom, in good, nn. 863, 875, 927, 1023, 1043, 
1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113, 9596. That the good of the spiritual kingdom is 
the good of charity towards the neighbor ; and that this good in its essence is truth, 
nn. 8042, 10,296. 

(^) That justice or righteousness, in the Word, is predicated of good, and judgment 
of truth ; and th it hence, to do justice and judgment, denotes, good and truth, nn. 
2235, 9857. That great judgm >nts denote the laws of divine order, thus divino truths, 
n. 7206. 

100 



HEAVEN. 216, 217 

or righteousness is signified celestial good, and by judgment, 
spiritual good, which latter, as just observed, in its essence, is 
truth; as in these places: '''' Of the increase of Ms govermnent 
and peace there shall he no end^ upon the throne of David, and 
upon his hingdom^ to order it, and to establish it with judgment 
and with justice, fwn henceforth even forever.''^ — (Isa. ix. 7.) 
Bj David is here meant the Lord,('^) and by his kingdom, 
heaven; as appears from this passage: ^^I will raAse unto Da- 
vid a righteous Branch, and a Icing shall reign and prosper, 
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earthP — (Jer. 
xxiii. 5.) ''''Jehovah is exalted i for He dwelleth on high: He 
hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness." — (Isa. 
xxxiii. 5.) By Zion, also, are meant heaven and the church.(^) 
"/ am Jehovah, who exercise loving-hindness, judgment, and 
righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith 
Jehovah?^ — (Jer. ix. 21:.) ''^ I will hetroth thee unto Me forever : 
yea, I will hetroth thee unto Me in kighteousness and in judg- 
ment." — (Hos. ii. 19.) "6^ Jehovah, — thy righteousness is like 
the great mountains / thy judgments are a great deep^ — (Ps. 
xxxvi. 5, 6.) ^''They ash of Me the ordinances'^^ — ^literally, " the 
judgments — of JUSTICE : they take delight in approaching to 
God:'—{lsa.. Iviii. 2.) _ 

217. In the Lord's spiritual kingdom, the forms of govern- 
ment are various, being not the same in one society as in an- 
other. The varieties are in accordance with the ministries 
which the societies discharge; and these are in accordance with 
the offices of all the parts in man, to which they correspond. 
That these are various, is w^ell known: for there is one office 
belonging to the heart, another to the lungs, another to the 
liver, another to the pancreas and spleen, and another, likewise, 
to every organ of sense. As these discharge different functions 
in the body, so, also, do the societies in the Grand Man, which 
is heaven ; for there are societies which correspond to all those 
organs respectively. That there is a correspondence between all 
things belonging to heaven and all things belonging to man, has 
been shown in its proper Section above (nn. 87 — 102). But all 
the forms of government agree in this, that they all look, as 
their end, to the public good, and, in that good, to the good ot 
every individual.(^ This results from the fact, that all the 

(*) That bv David, in the prophetical parts of the Word, is understood the Lord, 
un. 1888, 99M. 

(') That by Zion, in the Word, is meant the church, specifically the celestial church, 
nn. 2862, 9055. 

(•) That every man and society, also a man's country and the church, and, in a uni- 
versal sense, the kingdom of the Lord, is our neighbor; und that to do good to them 
from the love of good, according to the quality of their state, is to love out neighbor; 
thus that their good, which is also the general good, and which is to be consulted, is* 
our neighbor, nn. 6818 — 6824, 8123. That civil good, also, consisting in what is I'ust, :& 
our neighbor, nn. 2915, 4730, 8120, 8123. Hence, that charity towards the neighbor ex 
tends itself to all things, bof h generally and particularly, belonging to the life of man , 
and that tc love goc4 and to io good from the love of what is good aud true, and aicio 

101 



218, 219 HEAVEX. 

inhabitants of the universal heaven are under the guidance of 
the Lord, who loves them all, and, from his Divine Love, pro- 
vides that there should exist a common good from which every 
individual should receive his particular good. Every individual, 
also, does receive good for himself, in proportion as he loves the 
common good : for so far as any one loves the community, he 
loves all the individuals who compose it ; and since this is the 
love of the Lord Himself, he is loved by the Lord in the same 
proportion, and good results to himself. 

218. From these observations it may appear, what is the 
character of the governors, and that they are such as are dis- 
tinguished beyond others for love and wisdom, consequently, 
such as, from a principle of love, desire the good of all, and, 
from the w^isdom by which, also, they are distinguished, know 
how to provide that the good they desire may be realized. 
Persons who are of this character do not domineer and com- 
mand imperiously, but minister and serve ; for to do good to 
others out of the love of good, is what is meant by serving, and 
to provide that such desired end may be realized, is what is 
meant by ministering. Neither do such account themselves 
greater than others, but less ; for they put the good of the 
society and of their neighbor in the first place, and their own 
in the last ; and that which is in the first place, is greater, and 
that which is in the last, is less. They nevertheless are in the 
enjoyment of honor and glory : they dwell in the centre of the 
society, in a more elevated situation than others, and inhabit 
magnificent palaces. They also accept this glory and that 
honor; not, however, for their own sake, but for the sake of 
securing obedience : for all in heaven know that that honor and 
that glory are conferred on them by the Lord, and that, there- 
fore, they are to be obeyed. These are the things which are 
meant in these words of the Lord to his disciples : " Whosoever 
will he chief among yoii^ let hirn he your servant : even a,s the 
Son of man came not to he ministered unto^ hut to minister^ and 
to give his life a ransom for m^any^ — (Matt. xx. 27, 28.) ''^ He 
that is the greatest among you^ let him he as the younger y and- 
Tie that is chief as he that doth served — (Luke xxii. 26.) 

219. A similar government, in miniature, obtains, also, in 
every house. There is in each house a master, and there are 
domestics : the master loves the domestics, and the domestics 
love the master ; the consequence of which is, that, out of love, 
they mutually serve each other. The master teaches how they 
should live, and prescribes what they should do; and the do- 
mestics obey, and perform their duties. To be of use is the 
delight of life among all. It hence is evident, that the Lord's 
kingdom is a kingdom of uses. 

do what is just from the love of what is just, in every flinction and in all our dealmgft, 
is to love our neighbor, nn. 2417, 8121, 8124. 

102 



HEAVEN. 220—222 

220. There are also governments in tlie hells, for if there 
were not, the inhabitants could not be kept in bonds. Bui the 
governments there are the opposites of those in the heavens. 
They all are such as are founded in self-love. Every one there 
desires to rule imperiously over others, and to attain pre- 
eminence. Such as do not favor their wishes, they hate, seek 
to be revenged on them, and treat them with cruelty ; for such 
is the nature of self-love : wherefore the more desperately 
malignant are set over them; whom they obey from fea]'.(') 
But of this, more below, where the hells are treated of. 



OF DIVINE WORSHIP IN HEAVEN. 

221. Divine Worship in the heavens is not unlike that on 
earth as to externals, but it differs as to internals. Angels, as 
well as men, have doctrines, preaching, and temples or churches. 
The doctrines all agree as to things essential ; but those in the 
superior heavens are of more interior wisdom than those in the 
inferior heavens : The preaching is according to the doctrines : 
And as they have houses and palaces (nn. 183 — 190), so, also, 
they have temples or churches, in which the preaching is per- 
formed. Another reason w^hy such things exist in heaven, is, 
because the angels are continually perfected in wisdom and 
love: for they have will and understanding as well as men, and 
the understanding is of such a nature as to be capable of ad- 
vancing in perfection continually ; and so, also, is the will ; the 
understanding being perfected by the truths that belong to in 
telligence, and the will by the goods that belong to love.(^) 

222. But divine worship in the heavens does not consist, 
properly speaking, in frequenting the temples and hearing the 
preaching, but in the life of love, charity, and faith, according 
to their doctrines : the j)i'eaching in the temples only serves as 
means for obtaining instruction in matters relating to life. I 
have conversed with the angels on this subject, and have told 
them that it is imagined in the world, that divine worship con- 

(^•') That there are two kinds of rule, one grounded in the love of the neighbor, the 
other in the love of self, n. 10,814. That all things good and happy result from such 
government as is grounded in neighborly love, nn. 10,160, 10,614. That, in heaven, 
no one can exercise rule from the love of self, but that all are willing to minister; and 
that this is to exercise rule from neighborly love; and that hence they possess so great 
power, a. 5732. That all evils result from tlie exercise of rule groiincicd in the love of 
self, n. l<i,03S. That when the loves of self and of the world began to prevail, men 
were compelled for security to subject themselves to governments, nn. 7364, 10,160, 
10,814. 

(""> That the understanding is recipient of truth, and the will of good, nn. 3623. 
6125, 7503, 9300, 9930. That^'as all things have relation to truth and good, so the all 
of man's life has relation to the understanding and the will, nn. 803, 10,122. That the 
angels advance in perfection to i ^ernif'' nn. 4808. 6648. 

108 



223, 224 HEAVEN. 

sists in nothing but going to churcli, hearing preaching, receiv- 
ing the sacrament three or four times a year, and attending to 
the other rituals of worship as prescribed bj the church ; as 
also in giving time to prayer, and behaving devoutly on the 
occasion. The angels said, that these are externals which ought 
to be observed, but that they are of no use unless they proceed 
from an internal principle ; and that such internal principle 
consists in a life according to the precepts which doctrine in- 
culcates. 

223. In order that I might know the nature of their assem- 
blies in their temples, it has sometimes been granted me to 
enter, and to hear the preaching. The preacher stands in a 
pulpit on the east. In front of him sit those who are in the 
enjoyment, more than the rest, of the light of wisdom ; and on 
the right and left of these sit those who have less. The seats 
are disposed like those of a circus, so that all are in view of the 
preacher. No one sits quite on either side of him, so as to be 
out of his sight. At the door, w^hich is on the east side of the 
temple, at the left of the pulpit, stand the novitiates. It is not 
allowed for any one to stand behind the pulpit, for if any one 
does, the preacher is confused ; as also occurs if any one in the 
congregation dissents from what he hears; wherefore, should 
this happen, he must turn away his face. The sermons are so 
replete with wisdom, that none that are heard in the world can 
be compared to them; for the preachers in the heavens are in 
the enjoyment of interior light. The temples in the spiritual 
kingdom appear as if constructed of stone, and, in the celestial 
kingdom, as of wood ; because stone corresponds to truth, in 
which, more especially, the angels of the spiritual kingdom are 
grounded, and wood corresponds to good, which is the distin- 
guishing characteristic of the angels of the celestial king- 
dom.(^) In this latter kingdom, likewise, the sacred edifices 
are not called temples, but houses of God. la the celestial 
kingdom, the sacred edifices are not of a magnificent descrip- 
tion ; but in the spiritual kingdom they all possess magnifi- 
cence, greater or less. 

224. I have conversed w^ith one of the preachers respecting 
the state of sanctity in which the hearers are when listening to 
the sermons in the temples. He said, that every one is in a 
state of piety, devotion, and sanctity, according to the state of 
the interior things belonging to him which relate to love and 
faith ; for it is in these that sanctity, properly so called, resides, 
because these are the receptacles of the Divine Sphere proceed- 
ing from the Lord ; and that he did not know what external 
sanctity, independent of those interior principles, could be. 

;") That stone signifies truth, nn. 114, 643,, 1298, 8720, 6426, 8609, ! 0,576. Tliat wood 
signifies good, nn. 643 3720, 8354. That, on this account, the most ancient peopW, 
who were principled in :!elestial good, built their sacred edifices of wood, n. 3720. 

104 



HEAVEN. 225—227 

On reflecting on such separate external sanctity, he said, that 
probably it might be some feigned appearance of sanctity in 
outward form, either acquired by art, or assumed hypocriti- 
cally ; and that some spurious fire, proceeding from the love of 
self and of the world, might excite and display such an appear- 
ance. 

225. All the preachers belong to the Lord's spiritual king- 
dom, and none of them to his celestial kingdom. The reason 
that they all belong to the spiritual kingdom is, because the 
angels of that kingdom are especially grounded in truths de- 
rived from good ; and all preaching is performed from truths. 
The reason that none of them belong to the celestial kingdom 
is, because the angels of that kingdom are especially grounded 
in the good of love, from which they see arid have a perception 
of truths, but do not speak of them. But notwithstanding the 
angels of the celestial kingdom have a perception of truths, and 
see them, still there is preaching among them, because they are 
thus enlightened in the truths which they know", and their per- 
fection is advanced by many which they before did not know. 
As soon as they hear such, they also recognize them as truths, 
and thus receive a perception of them. The truths of which 
they have a perception, they also love, and by living according 
to them they incorporate them into their life. They likewise 
affirm, that to live according to truths is to love the Lord.(^) 

226. All the preachers are appointed by the Lord, and thence 
possess the gift of preaching ; nor are any others permitted to 
teach in the temples. They are called preachers, not priests ; 
the reason of which is, because the priesthood of heaven is the 
celestial kingdom ; for the priesthood signifies the good of love 
to the Lord; in which the subjects of that kingdom are grounded. 
So, the royalty of heaven is the spiritual kingdom ; royalty, also, 
signifies truth derived from good ; in which the subjects of that 
kingdom are grounded.('') (See above, n. 24.) 

227. The doctrines, according to which the preaching is 
framed, all regard life as their end, and none of them faith 
without life. The doctrine of the inmost heaven is more replete 
with wisdom than the doctrine of the middle heaven, and this 
is more replete with intelligence than the doctrine of the ulti- 
mate heaven. The doctrines, also, are adapted to the percep- 
tions of the angels in each heaven. The essential point in all 
the doctrines is, to acknowledge the Lord's Divine Humanity. 

(') That to love the Lord and our neighbor, is, to live according to the Lord's pre- 
cepts, nil. 10,143, 10,153, 10,810, 10,578, 10,645, 10,643. 

{*} Tiiat priests represent the Lord as to divine good, kings as to divine truti*. 
nn. 2015, 614S. That hence a priest, in the Word, signifies those who are principled 
in the good of love to the Lord ; thus tiiat the priestliood signifies that good, nn. 980fi, 
9809. That a king, in the Word, signifies those who are grounded in divine truth , 
chus the regal office signifi<^s truth derived from good, nn, 1672, 2015, 2061), 4575. 45S1, 
*yti6, 5044. 

lOo 



228, 229 HEAVEN. 



OF THE POWER OF THE ANGl LS OF HEAVEN". 

228. That the angels possess power, is a thmg which cannot 
be conceived by such as have no knowledge respecting the 
spiritual world and its influx into the natural world ; for they 
imagine that the angels cannot have any power, because they 
are spiritual beings, so refined and rare, that they cannot eveii 
be seen wdth the eyes. But such as look interiorly into the 
causes of things are of a different opinion. These know, that 
all the powder which is possessed by man, is derived from his 
understanding and wdll, since, without these, he could not move 
a particle of his body. Man's understanding and will are his 
spiritual man : and this actuates the body and its members just 
as it pleases ; for w^hat this thinks, the mouth and tongue speak, 
and W'hat this wills, the body executes ; to which, also, it gives 
force at pleasure. Man's will and understanding are governed 
by the Lord, through the instrumentality of angels and spirits ; 
and as his will and understanding are thus governed, so, also, 
are all things belonging to his body, because these are derived 
from the former; and, if you will believe it, man cannot so 
much as take a step with his feet independently of the influx of 
heaven. That such is the fact, has been evinced to me by much 
experience : it has been given to the angels to move my steps, 
my actions, my tongue and speech, as they pleased, which they 
etiected by an influx into my will and thought ; and I found that, 
of myself, I had no power whatever. They afterwards told me, 
that every man is governed in this manner, and that he might 
know^ that it is so from the doctrine of the church, and from the 
Word ; for it is usual for him to pray that God would send His 
angels, that they may lead him, may guide his steps, may teach 
him, and inspire what he should think and what he should speak ; 
wdth more to that effect ; although, when, without regard to 
doctrine, he thinks within himself, he speaks and thinks difler- 
ently. These observations are made, that the nature of the 
power which the angels have with man may be knowm. 

229. But the power of angels in the spiritual world is so great, 
that were I to relate every thing that has been witnessed by me 
on that subject, it would surpass all belief. If any thing there 
makes resistance, and is to be removed, because opposed to 
Divine order, they cast it dow^n and overturn it by a mere effort 
of w^ill, and by a look. I have seen mountains which were 
occupied by the wdcked thv s cast down and overthrown, and 
sometimes made to shake from one end to the other, as occurs 
in earthquakes. I have beheld rocks, also, split open in the 
midclxt; down to the deep, and the wicked who w^ere on them 
swallowed up. I have likewise seen some hundreds of thousands 
of evil spirits dispei*sed by them, and cast into hell. IMumbera 

106 



HEAVEN. 230, 231 

avail nothing at all against them ; nor arts, nor cunning machin- 
ations, nor confederacies : they see through all, and dispel them 
in a moment. (More may be seen on this subject in the work 
On tlie Last Judgment and the Destruction of Babylon.) Such 
is the power which the angels possess in the spiritual world. 
That they also have similar power in the natural world, when it 
is granted them to exercise it, is evident from the Word ; in 
which we read that they have caused the utter destruction of 
whole armies, and occasioned a pestilence of which seventy 
thousand men died. Of the angel who produced the latter 
cahimity, it is written thus : " And loJien the angel stretched out 
his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it^ the Jjyrd repented Him 
of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is 
enough : stay noio thy hand. — And David — saw the angel that 
smote tJie peopled — (2 Sam. xxiv. 15, 16, 17.) J^ot to mention 
other cases. Since the angels possess such power, they are 
denominated Powers; and it is said in David, ^^ Bless Jehovah, 
ye His angels, that excel in strength^'' — more literally, " mighty 
in strength.'^'' — (Ps. ciii. 20.) 

230. But it is to be understood, that the angels have no power 
at all of themselves, but that all the power they exercise they 
derive from the Lord, and that the appellation of Powers only 
belongs to them, so far as they are grounded in the acknowledg- 
ment tliat such is the fact. When any angel supposes that he 
possesses power from himself, he instantly becomes so weak, as 
to be unable to resist so much as one evil spirit. On this ac- 
count, the angels attribute no merit whatever to themselves, and 
are averse from receiving any praise or glory on account of any 
thing done by them, all w^hich they ascribe to the Lord. 

231. It is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord to 
which belongs all power in the heavens ; for the Lord, in 
heaven, is Divine Truth in union with Divine Good (see above, 
nn. 126 — 110) : and it is in proportion as the angels are in the 
recejDtion of the same, that they are Powers. (^) Ever) one, 
also, is his own truth and his own good, because every one is 
of such a quality as are his understanding and will : and his 
understanding is his understanding of truth, because all that 
belongs to it is composed of truths ; and his will is his wdll of 
good, because all that belongs to it is composed of goods ; for 
whatever is the subject of a person's understanding or intelli- 
gence, he calls truth; and whatever is the subject of his will, 
he calls good. It hence results, that every one is his owm truth 
and his own good.(^) So far, therefore, as the truth which any 

(*) That all the angels are called powers, and that they are powers, by virtue of the 
reception of divine truth from the Lord, n. 9639. That angels are recipier.^is of divine 
:ruth from the Lord, and that, on this account, they ar'i called gods ii. tlio Word 
nhrougliout, nn. 4295, ^02, 8301, 9160. 

' That a man and ar angel is his own good and his own ^ruth, thus his own lov« 

lOT 



231, 232 HEAVEN. 

angel is, is truth from the Divine Being, and the good which he 
is, is good from the same source, he is a power, because so far 
the Lord is with him. And since no one is grounded in good 
and truth that is exactly similar, or the same, with that of 
another (for in heaven, as in the w^orld, the variety is endless, 
n. 20), it follows that no angel is in the possession of the same 
powder as another. The greatest power is enjoyed by those who 
constitute the arms in the Grand Man, or heaven, by reason that 
the angels who belong to that province are grounded in truths 
more than others, and there is an influx of good into their truths 
from the w^hole of heaven. Thus, also, in individual men, the 
power of the whole man transfers itself into his arms, and, by 
them, the whole body exercises its force ; on which account, in 
the Word, by the arms and hands is signified power.(^) In 
heaven, there sometimes appears a naked arm stretched forth, 
which is of such power, that it could bruise to powder whatever 
comes in its way, even to a great stone in the ground : it once 
was advanced towards me ; on which I had a perception, that it 
was able to pound my bones into minute fragments. 

232. That all power resides in the Divine Truth w^hich pro- 
ceeds from the Lord, and that the angels have power in propor- 
tion as they are in the reception of the Divine Truth, has been 
show^n above (n. 137). The angels, however, are only in the 
reception of Divine Truth, in proportion as they are in the re- 
ception of Divine Good ; for all power resides in truths derived 
from good, and none in truths without good ; and, on the other 
hand, good has all its powxr by means of truths, and none 
without truths. Power is the result of the conjunction of the 
two. It is the same with respect to faith and love ; for whether 
you mention truth, or faith, it amounts to the same, since all 
that is the object of faith is truth ; and in the same manner, it 
amounts to the same, whether you mention good, or love, since 
all that is the object of love is good.('*) How great is the 
power which the angels possess by means of truths derived 
from good, was also made manifest by this circumstance : that 
an evil spirit, only on being looked at by an angel, faints away, 
and no longer appears as a man ; in which state he continues 

and his own faith, nn. 10,298, 10,367. That ho is his own understanding and his own 
will, since the all of his life is thence derived, the life of good being of the will, and 
the life of truth being of the understanding, nn. 10,076, 10,177, 10,264, 10,284. 

(•) Of the correspondence of the hands, the arms, and shoulders, with the grand 
man, or heaven, nn. 4931 — 4937. That by arms and hands, in .the Word, is signified 
power, nn. 878, 3091, 4984, 4932, 6947, 10,019. 

(♦) That all power in the heavens belongs to truth derived from good, thus to faith 
grounded in love, nn. 3091, 3563, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10,019, 10,182. That all power is 
from the Lord, because from Him is all the truth, which belongs to faith, and the good, 
which belongs to love, nn. 9327, 9410. That this power is meant by the keys given to 
Peter, n. 6344. That it is the divine truth proceeding from the Lord which has all 
power, nn. 6948, 8200. That this power of the Lord is what is understood by sitting 
at the right hand of Jeliovah, nn. 3387, 4592, 4983, 75] 6, 7673, 8281, 9133. I'hat the 
right hand denotes power, n. 10,019. v 

108 



HEAVEN. 233—236 

till the angel turns away his eyes. The reason that such a 
phenomenon takes place by the aspect of the angePs eyes, ia, 
because the sight of the angels is derived from the light of 
heaven, and the light of heaven is Divine Truth. (See above, 
nn. 126 — 132.) The eyes, also, correspond to truths derived 
from good.(^) 

233. Since all power resides in truths derived from good, it 
follows, that there is no power whatever in falsities derived 
from evil.(^) All the inhabitants of hell are grounded in falsi- 
ties derived from evil ; wherefore they have no power against 
truth and good. But what sort of power they possess among 
themselves, and what sort of power is exercised by evil spirits 
before they are cast into hell, will be described in a subsequent 
part of this work. 



OF THE SPEECH OF THE ANGELS. 

234. The angels converse together just as men do in the 
world, and talk, like them, on various subjects, such as their 
domestic affairs, those belonging to their state in society, mat- 
ters of moral life, and those of spiritual life : there is no differ- 
ence, except that the angels converse with more intelligence 
than men, because from a more interior ground of thought. It 
has often been granted me to be in company with them, and to 
converse with them as one friend does with another, and some- 
times as one stranger with another; and as I was then in a state 
like their own, I could not tell but that I was conversing with 
men on earth. 

235. The speech of angels is divided into words, just as the 
speech of men is : it is also both uttered and heard sonorously, 
just in the same manner; for they have mouth, tongue, and ears, 
exactly as man has. They likewise have an atmosphere, in 
which the sound of their speech is articulated ; but the atmos- 
phere is a spiritual one, such as is suited to angels, who are 
spiritual beings. The angels, also, breathe in their atmosphere, 
and pronounce their words by means of their breath ; as men 
do in theirs. (^) 

• 236. In the whole of heaven, all have one language : all un 
derstand each other, whatever society they belong to, whether 

(^) That the eyes correspond to truths derived from good, nn. 4403 — 4421, 4523— 
4534, 6923. 

C) That falsities derived from evil have no power, because truth derived from good 
has all power, nn. 6784, 10,481. 

(*) That in the heavens there is respiration, but of an interior kind, nn. 3SS4, 3885 ; 
from experience, nn. 88S4, 3885, 3891, 3893. That respirations are dissimilar thero, 
and various, according to their states, nn. 1119, 3886, 3887, 3889, 3892, 3893. That tlie 
wicked cannot respire at all in heaven, and that if they come thither they are suttb- 
catei, n. 3894. 

109 



236, 237 HEAVEN. 



neigliboring or remote. This language is not learned artifi* 
cially, but is inherent in everj one ; for it flows direct from their 
affection and thought. The sound of their speech corres2)onds 
to their affection, and the articulations of sound, composing the 
words, correspond to the ideas of their thought proceeding from 
their affection: and as their language corresponds to these, it, 
likewise, is spiritual, being, in reality, audible affection and 
speaking thought. Whoever attends to the subject may be 
aware, that all thought proceeds from affection, which belongs 
to love, and that the ideas of thought are various forms into 
w^iich the common affection is distributed ; for no thought or 
idea can possibly exist without affection, it being from this that 
it derives its soul and life. On this account, the angels know 
the character of any one merely by his speech, discerning the 
quality of his affection by its sound, and that of his mind by 
the articulations of its sound, or his words : and the wiser class 
of angels can tell, on his uttering a few connected sentences, the 
nature of his ruling affection ; for it is to this that they princi- 
pally attend. That every one has various affections, is well 
known : for one kind of affection prevails with a man when he 
is in a state of joy, another when in a state of grief, another 
when in a state of clemency and compassion, another when in a 
state of sincerity and truth, another when in a state of love and 
charity, another when in a state of zeal or of anger, another when 
in a state of pretence and deceit, another when in the ambitious 
pursuit of honor and glory; and so on : yet the ruling affection 
or love exists in them all ; wherefore the wiser class of angels, 
who perceive by a person's speech what is his ruling affection, 
know, at the same time, all the states belonging to him. That 
such is the fact, has been made known to me by much expe- 
rience. I have heard angels laying open the life of a person on 
only hearing him speak: they also affirmed, that they can dis- 
cover all things belonging to a person's life by a few ideas of his 
thoughts, because they thence discover his ruling love, in wdiich 
all things else are contained in their proper order ; and that 
man's Book of Life is nothing else. 

237. The angelic tongue has nothing in common with human 
languages, except with certain words, the sound of which is 
deriv^ed from some affection ; and then, what the angelic tongue 
has in common with them, is not with the words themselves, 
but with the sound of them ; on which subject, something will 
be offered hereafter. That the angelic tongue has nothing in 
common with human languages, is evident from this fact, that 
to utter one word of any human language, is, to the angels, im- 
possible. The experiment was tried ; but they were unable to 
do it. For they are unable to utter any thing, but what is in 
perfect accordance with their affection ; whatever is not in such 
accordance, is repugnant to their very life ; for their life is that 
110 



HEAVEN. 238—240 

ot tiieir aflection, and from this proceeds their speech. If has 
been toLl me, that the primitive language of mankind on our 
earth, possessed agreement with that of the angels, because they 
derived it from heaven; and that the Hebrew language possesses 
such agreement in some particulars. 

238. Since the speech of the angels corresponds to their affec- 
tion, which belongs to their love, and the love that prevails in 
neaven is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor (see 
above, nn. 13 — 19), it is evident how elegant and pleasing must 
be their discourse ; for it not only affects the ears, but, also, the 
interiors of the mind, of those who hear it. There was a certain 
spirit, remarkable for hardness of heart, with whom an angel 
was speaking, and who, at length, was so affected by his dis- 
course, that he burst into tears : he said that he could not help 
it, for what he heard was love itself speaking; and that he had 
never wept before. 

239. The speech of the angels is also full of wisdom, because 
it proceeds from their interior thought, and their interior thought 
is wisdom, as their interior affection is love. In their speech, 
their love and wisdom are united ; whence it is so full of wis- 
dom, that they are able to express by a single word what man 
cannot in a thousand. The ideas of their thoughts, also, com- 
prise such things, as man is not able to conceive, much less to 
ntter by speech. It is on this account, that the things that have 
been heard and seen in heaven are said to be unspeakable, and 
such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. That they are so, has 
also been my privilege to know by experience. I have some- 
times been admitted into the state which is proper to the angels, 
and have conversed with them ; and, while in that state, I un- 
derstood all that was said ; but when I returned into my former 
state, and thus into the natural thought proper to man, and 
wished to recollect what I had heard, I was unable ; for there 
were thousands of thinors which could not be brous^ht down to 
the ideas of natural thought, thus which were not capable of 
being expressed, except, only, by variegations of the light of 
heaven, and, consequently, not at all by human words. The 
angels' ideas of thought, from which proceed their words, are, 
likewise, modifications of the light of heaven ; and their affec- 
tions, from which proceeds the sound of the words, are vari- 
ations of the heat of heaven; because the light of heaven is 
Divine Truth or wisdom, and the heat of heaven is Divine Good 
or love (see above, nn. 126 — 140) ; and the angels derive their 
affection from the Divine love, and their thought from the 
Divine wisdom. (2) 

240. As the speech of the angels proceeds immediately from 

(*) That the ideas of the angels, from which they speak, are eflPected by wonderful 
variegations of the light of heaven, nn. 1646, 3343, 3993. 



240, 241 HEAVEN. 



tlieir^ affection, tlieir ideas of thought, as observed above (n. 236), 
being various forms into which the common affection is distrib- 
uted, they are able to express, in less than a minute, what man 
cannot do in half an hour. They also are able to give, in a few 
words, what, if put in writing, would fill several pages. This, 
likewise, has been evinced to me by much experience. (^) The 
angels' ideas of thought, and the words of their speech, form a 
one, in the same manner as the efficient cause and the effect ; 
for that which exists, in its cause, in their ideas of thought, is 
shown, in effect, in their words : which also is the reason that 
every word comprehends so many things w^ithin itself. All the 
particulars of the angels' thoughts, and thence all the particulars 
of their speech, when visibly exhibited, appear, likewise, as a 
rarified circumfluent undulation or atmosphere, comprising 
within it innumerable things in their proper order, which pro- 
ceed from their wisdom, and which enter, and affect, the 
thought of another. The ideas of the thought of every one, 
whether angel or man, are rendered visible in the light of 
heaven, when the Lord sees fit.(*) 

241. The angels who belong to the Lord's celestial kingdom 
make use of speech, in the same manner as the angels of the 
Lord's spiritual kingdom ; only the celestial angels speak from 
a more interior ground of thought than the spiritual angels. 
The celestial angels, also, being grounded in the good of love to 
the Lord, speak from wisdom ; and the spiritual angels, being 
grounded in the good of charity towards the neighbor, which in 
its essence is truth (n. 215), speak from intelligence; for wisdom 
proceeds from good, and intelligence from truth. On this ac 
count, the speech of the celestial angels is like a gentle stream, 
soft, and as it were continuous ; but the speech of the spiritual 
angels is rather vibratory and discrete. The speech of the ce- 
lestial angels, also, partakes greatly of the sound of the vowe.s 
U and O ; but the speech of the spiritual angels, of the vowels 
E and L* For vowels are signs of sounds, and in the sound 
resides the affection : for, as observed above (n. 236), the sound of 

(') That the angels can express by their speech in a moment more than man can 
express by his in half an hour; and that they can also express such things as do not 
fall into the words of human speech, nn. 1641, 1642, 1643, 1645, 4609, 7089. 

(*) That there are innumeraole thincjs contained in one idea of thought, nn. 1008, 
1869,4946, 6613, 6614, 6615, 6617, 6618. That the ideas of the thought^ of man are 
opened in the other life, and presented visibly, as to their quality, by a living ir<age, 
nn. 1869, 3310, 5510. What is the nature of their appearance, lin. 6201^ 888o. That 
the ideas of the angels of the inmost heaven appear like flaming light, n. 6615 That 
the ideas of the angels of the ultimate heaven appear like thin bright clouds, n. 6614. 
The idea of an angel seen, from which issued a radiation towards the Lord, n. 6620. 
That the ideas of thought diffuse tliemselves widely into the angelic societies around, 
nn. 6598—6618. 

* It is to be recollected, that the sound of E, here referred to, is that which is ex- 
pressed, in English, by the close sound of A, or the sound of A in fate; and that the 
sound of I is that which we give to the vowel E. So, also, the sound described as that 
of U is what is more commonly expressed in English by double 0, as in choose. The 
Bouni assigned to is the same in all languages. — N. 

112 



HEAVEN. 242, 243 

the angols' speecli corresponds to tlieir affection, and the articu- 
lations of the sound, which are the words, correspond to their 
ideas of thought proceeding from their affection. The vowels 
do not belong to a language, but to the elevation of its words by 
sound to express various atfections according to the state of every 
one; on which account, in the Hebrew language, the vowels are 
not written, and are, also, variously pronounced. The angels, 
hence, know the quality of a man in respect to his affection and 
love. The speech of the celestial angels, also, contains no hard 
consonants, and few transitions from one consonant to another, 
without the interposition of a word that begins with a vowel. 
It is on this account that, in the Word, there is such frequent 
use of the particle " and^'^ as may be evident to those who read 
the AYord in Hebrew, in which that particle has a soft expression, 
and always takes a vowel-sound before and after it. In the Word, 
as existing in that language, it may also in some degree be known, 
from the sound of the words themselves, whether they belong to 
the celestial class or to the spiritual class, consequently, whether 
they involve the signification of good or that of truth. Those 
which involve the signification of good partake much of the 
sound of U and O, and also, in some degree, of that of A; but 
those which involve the signification of truth, partake of the 
sound of E and I. Since the affections particularly display 
themselves in sounds, therefore in human oratory also, when 
treating of great subjects, such as heaven and God, such words 
are preferred as sound much of U and O : lofty musical sounds, 
likewise, are chosen, when employed on such themes: but when 
not treating on great subjects, other sounds are preferred. It is 
from this cause that the art of music has the power of expressing 
various kinds of affections. 

242. In the speech of angels there is a species of musical 
concord, such as cannot be described.(^) It results from the 
circumstance, that the thoughts and atfections, from which the 
speech proceeds, pour themselves forth, and diffuse themselves 
around, according to the form of heaven ; and it is according to 
the form of heaven that all are connected in societies, and that 
all communication is effected. That the angels are consociated 
together according to the form of heaven, and that their thoughts 
and affections proceed according to that form, may be seen above 
(nn. 200—212). 

243. The same kind of speech as obtains in the spiritual world 
is inherent in every man, only it is seated in his interior intel- 
lectual part; but as, in man, it does not descend into words 
analogous to his affection, as it does with the angels, he is not 
aware that he possesses it. It is from this cause, however, that 

(') That in angelic speech there is concord with harmonious cadence, nn. 1648, 1649, 
7191. 

8 113 



244 246 HEAVEN. 

when man enters the other life, he speaks the same language as 
the spirits and angels who are there already, and that he under- 
stands it without a teacher.(^) But on this subject, more will 
be said below. 

244. As stated above, all in heaven have one kind of speech : 
it is, however, varied in this respect ; that the speech of the 
wiser class is more interior, and more fully replenished with 
variations of affections and ideas of thoughts ; whilst the speech 
of the less wise is more exterior, and not so full of such contents ; 
and the speech of the simple is more exterior still, and consists, 
from that cause, of words, from which the sense is to be gathered, 
much as is done in the conversation of men. There is also a 
kind of speech by the face, terminating in something sonorous 
modified by ideas. There is another kind of speech, in which 
representatives of heaven are mixed with the ideas, and consist- 
ing, also, of ideas made visible. There is a kind of speech by 
gestures corresponding to their affections, and representing the 
same things as their words do. There is a kind of speech by 
the general principles of their affections and the general princi- 
ples of their thoughts. There is, likewise, a kind of thundering 
speech. ISTot to mention others. 

245. The speech of evil and infernal spirits is in like manner 
spiritual, because proceeding from their affections, but from evil 
affections, and from filthy ideas thence derived, which are held 
by the angels in utter aversion. Thus the kinds of speech that 
obtain in hell are opposite to those in heaven ; whence the 
wicked cannot bear the speech of angels, nor the angels the 
speech of infernals. The speech of hell affects the angels as a 
bad odor does the nostrils. The speech of hypocrites, who are 
such as are able to feign themselves angels of light, is, as to the 
words, similar to the speech of the angels, but as to the affections, 
and the ideas of thought thence proceeding, it is diametrically 
opposite ; wherefore their speech, when its interior quality is 
perceived, as it is by the wiser of the angels, is heard as the 
gnashing of teeth, and strikes the hearer with horror. 



OF THE SPEECH OF THE ANGELS WITH MAN. 

246. When angels converse with man, they do not speak m 
their own language, but in that of the man, or in other lan- 
guages which he understands, but not in such as are unknown 

(") That the faculty of spiritual or angelic speech, resides with man. although he is 
ignorant of it, n. 4104. That the ideas of the internal man are spiritual, but that man, 
during his life in the world, perceives them naturally, because he then thinks in the 
natural principle, nn. 10,236, 10,246, 10,550. That man after death comes into his 
interior ideas, nn. 8226, 3342, 3343, 10,568, 10.604. That those ideas then form his 
speech, nn. 2470, 2478, 2479. 

114 



HEAVEN. 246, 247 

to bin . The reason of this is, because when angels converse 
with man, they turn towards him, and conjoin themselves w^itb 
him ; the effect of which is, to bring both parties into a similar 
state of thought : and as the man's thought coheres with his 
memory, and his speech flows from it, both parties possess and 
use the same language. Besides, when an angel or spirit ap- 
proaches a man, and by turning towards him comes into con- 
junction with him, he enters into all the man's memory, so 
completely, that he is scarcely aware that he does not know, of 
himself, all that the man knows, including the languages with 
which the man is acquainted. I have conversed with the angels 
on this phenomenon, and have remarked to them, that they 
might possibly suppose, that they were speaking with me in my 
native tongue, because it so appeared to them, whereas it was 
not they vrho thus spoke, but myself; and that this might be 
demonstrated from the fact, that angels cannot utter one word 
of any human language (n. 237); and because, also, the language 
of men is natural, whereas they are spiritual, and spiritual beings 
cannot utter any thing in a natural manner. The angels replied, 
that they were aware that their conjunction with a man, when 
conversing with him, ^is with his spiritual thought ; but as this 
flows into his natural thought, and the latter coheres with his 
memory, it appears to them as if the man's language were their 
own, and all his knov/ledge likewise ; and that this effect takes 
place, because it was the Lord's pleasure that such a conjunction, 
and as it were insertion of heaven into man, should exist with 
him : they added, however, that the state of man at this day is 
different, so that such a conjunction with angels no longer exists, 
but only with spirits who are not in heaven. I have also con- 
versed on the same subject with spirits ; but they would not 
believe that it is the man who speaks, but that it is they who 
speak in the man : they also insisted, that it is not the man who 
knows what he does, but they, and thus that all the man knows 
he derives from them. I endeavored to convince them, by many 
arguments, that they were mistaken : but it was all to no purpose. 
Who are meant by spirits, and who by angels, will be explained 
in a subsequent part of this work, where we shall treat of the 
world of spirits. 

247. Another reason why angels and spirits conjoin themselves 
with man so closely as not to know but that all that belongs to 
the man is their own, is, because there exists such a conjunction 
between the spiritual and natural worlds with man, that they 
are as if they were one : but as man has separated himself from 
heaven, it has been provided by the Lord, that angels and spirits 
should he present with every man, and that he should be governed 
by the Lord through their instrumentality. It is on this account 
that there is su close a conjunction between them. It would have 
been other\f "oe^ if man had not separated himself from heaven ; 

115 



248, 249 HEAVEN 

for then be miglit have been governed by the Lord by the common 
influx from heaven, without having spirits and angels so partic- 
ularly adjoined to him. But this subject will be particularly 
considered in a subsequent part of this work, when treating of 
the conjunction of heaven with man. 

248. The speech of an angel or spirit, when addressed to a 
man, is perceived by him as sonorously as the speech of one man 
with another. It is not heard, however, by others who may be 
present, but only by the person S]3oken to ; the reason of which 
is, that the speech of an angel or spirit flows first into the man's 
thought, and thence, by an internal way, into his organ of hear- 
ing, which it thus actuates from within ; whereas the speech uf 
one man with another flows first into the air, and thence, by an 
external way, into his organ of hearing, which it thus actuates 
from without. It hence is evident, that the speech with man of 
an angel or spirit, is heard in the man, and as it equally actuates 
the organs of hearing as speech from without does, that it sounds 
as audibly. That the speech of an angel or spirit flows down from 
within into the ear itself, was evinced to me by this fact : that it 
flows, also, into the tongue, and causes it slightly to vibrate, but 
not with any local motion, such as takes place when the sound of 
speech is articulated by th« tongue into words by the man himself. 

249. But to speak with spirits is at this day rarely granted, 
because it is dangerous :(}) for the spirits then know that they 
are present with man, which they otherwise do not ; and evil 
spirits are of such a nature, that they regard man with deadly 
hatred, and desire nothing more than to destroy him both soul 
and body. This effect actually is experienced by those who have 
much indulged in phantasies, going to the extreme of banishing 
the enjoyments suited to the natural man. Persons, also, who 
pass their life in solitude, sometimes hear spirits speaking to 
them, without its being attended with danger : but the spirits 
that are present with them are at intervals removed by the Lord, 
lest they should know that they are present with a man : for 
most spirits do not know that there is any other world than the 
one inhabited by them, nor, consequently, that there are men 
elsewhere ; wherefore it is not allowable for the man to speak to 
them in return, for if he did, they Avould know this. Persons 
who think much upon religious subjects, and dwell upon them 
so incessantly as at length to see them, inwardly, as it were, in 
themselves, also begin to hear spirits speaking to them : for 
religious subjects of whatever kind, when a man, of his own 
accord, dwells upon them incessantly, and does not occasionally 
vary his meditations by attending to matters of business in the 

(') That man is able to discourse with spirits and angels, and that the ancients fre- 
quently did so, nn. 67, 68, 69, 784, 1634, 1636, 7802. Tiiat in some earths, angels and 
spirits appear in a human form, and speak with the inhabitants, nn. 10,751, 10,752. 
But that in this earth, at this day, it is dangerous to discourse with spirits, unless man 
be principled in a true faith, and be led by the Lord, nn. 784, 9438, 10,751. 

116 



HEAVEN. 250, 251 

world, penetrate to the interiors, and there fix themselves, and 
take possession of th6 whole of the man's spirit; when they 
enter the spiritual world, and act upon the spirits who inhabit 
it. These, however, are visionaries and enthusiasts, who believe 
any spirit whom they hear speaking to them to be the Holy 
Spirit, although he is only an enthusiastic spirit. Spirits of this 
description see falsities as truths, and because they see them, 
they persuade themselves that they are truths, and infuse the 
same persuasion into those with whom they communicate by 
intiux. As those spirits also began to persuade those whom 
they influenced to the commission of evils, and were obeyed 
wdien they did so, they w^ere gradually removed. Enthusiastic 
spirits are distinguished from others by this peculiarity, that 
they believe themselves to be the Holy Spirit, and their dictates 
to be divine oracles. These spirits do not offer injury to the 
man with whom they communicate, because he pays them divine 
worship and honor. I, also, have sometimes conversed," with 
spirits of this kind ; when the nefarious principles ?md practices 
which they infused into their worshippers were discovered to me. 
They dw^eil together towards the left, in a desert place. 

250. But to speak with angels of heaven is granted to none, 
but such as are grounded in truths originating in good, especially, 
in the acknowledgment of the Lord, and of the Divinity in His 
Humanity ; this being the truth in which the heavens are estab- 
lished. For, as has been show^n above, the Lord is the God of 
heaven (nn. 2 — 6); the Lord's Divine Sphere constitutes heaven 
(nn. 7 — 12); the Lord's Divine Sphere in heaven is love to Him 
and charity towards the neighbor, derived from Him (nn. 13 — 
19) ; and the whole of heaven, viewed collectively, is in form as 
one man: as is also every society of heaven; and every angel 
is in a perfect human form ; and they derive this distinction 
from the Divine Humanity of ttie Lord (nn. 59 — ^86). Such 
being the case, it is evident, that to speak with angels is only 
possible to those, whose interiors are opened, by divine truths, 
to the Lord Himself; for it is into the interiors that the Lord 
enters by influx with man; and when the Lord thus enters, 
heaven enters also. The reason that divine truths open man's 
interiors, is, because man was so created, as to be an image of 
heaven as to his internal man, and an image of the world as to 
his external (n. 57); and the internal man is only opened by the 
Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord ; for that is both the 
light, and the life, of heaven (nn. 126 — 140). 

251. The influx of the Lord Himself, with man, flows into his 
forehead, and thence into the whole of his face; because the 
forehead of man corresponds to his love, and the face to all his 
interiors.(^) The influx, with man, of the spiritual angels, flows 

(") That the forehead corresponds to celestial love, and thence, in the Word, signifies 
tltat love, n. 9936. That the face corresponds to the interiors of man, which arc^of the 

117 



252, 253 HEAVEN. 

into his Load in all directions, from his forehead and temple? to 
all the parts which inclose the portion of the brain called the 
cerehru7)i^ because that region of the head corresponds to intelli- 
gence. But the influx of the celestial angels flows into that part 
of the head which incloses the portion of the brain called the 
cerebellum^ and which is named the occiput^ reaching from the 
ears in all directions around from the back of the neck ; for that 
region of the head corresponds to wisdom. The speech of the 
angels, when addressed to man, always enters by those ways 
into his thoughts ; by noting which, I knew what angels they 
were with whom I have conversed. 

252. Those persons who converse with angels of heaven, see, 
also, the objects that exist in heaven, because they see by the 
light of heaven, in which their interiors are. Through them, 
likewise, the angels behold the objects that exist on earth •,(^) 
for, in such persons, heaven is conjoined with the world, and the 
world with heaven. For, as observed above (n. 246), when the 
angels turn themselves towards man, they conjoin themselves 
with him in such a manner, that they cannot tell but that every 
thing belonging to the man belongs to themselves ; not only 
whatever he relates in conversation, but whatever he has seen 
and heard : the man, also, on his part, does not know, but that 
whatever enters by influx from the angels is his own. Such 
was the conjunction which existed between the angels of heaven 
and the most ancient inhabitants of this earth ; on which account, 
those times are denominated the golden age. Because they ac- 
knowledged the Divine Being under a human form, thus, because 
they acknowledged the Lord, they conversed with the angels of 
heaven as with their own kindred, and the angels conversed re- 
ciprocally with them as with theirs ; and, in them, heaven and 
the world formed a one. But, after those times, man gradually 
removed himself farther and Ikrther from heaven, through loving 
himself in preference to the Lord, and the world in preference 
to heaven, whence he began to have a sense of the enjoyments 
of the love of self and the world separate from the enjoyments 
of heaven, and at last became ignorant of any other enjoyment. 
Then his interiors, which opened towards heaven, were closed, 
and his exteriors were opened towards the world : and when 
this is his state, a man is in possession of light with respect to 
all things belonging to the world, but is immersed in darkness 
in reheard to all thinfrs belonofinor to heaven. 

253. Since those times, it has been a rare thing for any one 
to converse with angels of heaven ; but some have conversed 

thought and affection, nn. 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5^>95< 
9306. That the face also is formed to correspond with the interiors, nn. 4791—4806; 
5695. That hence the face, in the Word, signifies the interiors, nn. 1999, 2434, 3527 
4066, 4796. 

(^) Tliat spirits can see nothing which is in this solar world, ^y or through man 
but that they have so seen through iny eyes ; with the reason the 'eof, n. 1S30. 

118 



HEAVEN. 254, 255 

with spirits who were not in heaven. For mai 's interiors and 
exteriors are of such a nature, that they are either turned to- 
wards the Lord as then* common centre (n. 124), or towards 
themselves, and thus awav from the Lord. When turned to- 
wards the Lord, they are also turned towards heaven ; and when 
towards self, they are also turned towards the world : and when 
this is their state, it is with dilhculty that they can be elevated. 
They are, however, as far as possible, elevated by the Lord, by 
effecting a change of the love; which is accomplished by means 
of truths derived from the Word. 

254. I have been informed how the Lord spoke with the pro- 
phets, by whose instrumentality the Word was written. He 
did not speak with them as He did with the ancient inhabitants 
of this globe, by an inliux into their interiors, but by spirits 
sent to them, whom tlie Lord filled with His aspect, and so in- 
spired the words which they dictated to the prophets. What 
these experienced, therefore, was not an influx, but a dictate ; 
and as the words proceeded immediately from the Lord, every 
one of them is tilled with a Divine principle, and they contain 
an internal sense, which is of such a nature, that the angels of 
heaven understand the words in a celestial and spiritual sense, 
while men understand them in a natural sense. Li this way, 
the Lord has effected a conjunction between heaven and the 
world by means of the Word. How spirits are filled with 
Divinity by the Lord by aspect, has also been shown me. A 
spirit so filled with Divinity by the Lord, does not know, at 
the time, but that he is the Lord, and that what he speaks is 
Divine. This state continues till he has uttered what he is 
charged with ; after which he perceives and acknowledges that 
he is only a spirit, and that he did not speak from himself, but 
from the Lord. Since such was the state of the spirits who 
spoke with the prophets, it is said by them, that Jehovah spoke ; 
the spirits themselves, likewise, called themselves Jehovah ; as 
may be seen, not only in the prophetical parts of the Word, but 
in the historical parts also. 

255. That the nature of the conjunction of angels and spirits 
with man may be understood, it is permitted to relate some 
particulars worthy of being mentioned, by which the subject 
may be illustrated, and seen to be as described. When angels 
and spirits turn themselves towards a man, it appears to them 
that the man's language is their own, and that they jDOSsess no 
other : the reason is, because, at such time, they are in the 
knowledge and use of the man's language, and not of their 
own, of which, in that state, they have no recollection ; but as 
soon as they turn themselves away from the man, they are in 
the knowledge and use of their ow^n angelic and spiritual lan- 
guage, and know nothing whatever of the man's. The like 
has occurred to myself. When I have been in company with 

119 



255, 256 HEAVEN. 

angels, and in a state similar to tlie'rs, I have conversed witL 
them in their language, and knew nothing whatever of my own, 
which never came to my recollection : but as soon as I ceased 
to be in their company, I was in the knowledge and nse of my 
own language again. It is also worthy of mention, that when 
angels and spirits turn themselves towards a man, they can con- 
verse with him at any distance : they hav^e also conversed with 
me a long way oif, and their speech sounded as loud as when 
they were near : but when they turn themselves from the man, 
and converse among themselves, not a syllable of their conver- 
sation is heard by him, though carried on close to his ear. It 
was made manifest to me, from these facts, that all conjunction, 
in the spiritual world, depends upon how the parties are turned 
in respect to each other. It is further worthy of mention, that 
a number of spirits can speak with a man togetlier, and the 
man with them. They send one of their party to the man with 
whom they wish to converse, and this emissary spirit turns him- 
self towards the man, and the rest of them towards that spirit, 
thus concentrating their thought in him ; to which he gives 
utterance. That spirit does not know, at the time, but that he 
is speaking from himself; nor do they, but th^t they are speak- 
ing from themselves In this way, a conjunction of many with 
one individual is effected ; this also resulting from the manner 
in which the parties are turned in regard to each other.(*) 
But respecting these emissary spirits, who also are called sub- 
jects, and the communication efiected through their instrumen- 
tality, more will be stated in the following pages. 

256. It is not lawful for any angel or spirit to converse with 
a man from his own memory, but only from that of the man 
For angels and spirits have memory as well as men ; and if a 
spirit were to speak with a man from his own memory, the man 
would not know but that the things which then became the 
subjects of his thoughts belonged to himself, although they be- 
longed to the spirit. This case is like remembering a thing, 
which, nevertheless, the man had never heard of, or seen. That 
6uch is the fact, has been given me to know by experience. 
This is the origin of the opinion held by some of the ancients, 
that after some thousands of years they should return into their 
former life, and into all its transactions, and that they actually 
had so returned. They drew this conclusion from the circum 
stance, that there sometimes occurred to them what seemed to 
be a remembrance of things, which, nevertheless, they had never 
seen or heard. This appearance w^as produced by an influx of 
spirits, from their own memory, into their ideas of thouglit. 

{*) That the spirits sent from societies of spirits to other societies are oallod subjects, 
nn. 4403, 5856. That communications in tlie spiritual world are effected by such emi»- 
Bary spirits, nn, 4403, 5846, 5983. Tiiat a spirit, when he is sent out and serves for a 
Bubject, does not think from himself, but from those by whom he was sent out, nn. 
5985. 5986, 59S7. 

120 



i 



HEAVEN. 257 — 259 

257. There also are certain spirits, called natural and cor- 
poreal spirits, who, when thej approach a man, do not, like 
other spirits, conjoin themselves with his thought, but enter 
into his body, and take possession of all his senses, so as to 
speak by his mouth and act by his members ; not knowing, at 
the time, but that all things belonging to the man belong to 
them. These are the spirits by whom men are possessed. 
But these spirits have been cast by the Lord into hell, and thus 
completely removed ; on which account, such possessions do 
not now occur.(^) 



OF WRITINGS IN HEAVEN. 

258. Since angels have speech, and their speech is composed 
of words, it follows that they have writings also, and that they 
express the sentiments of their minds by writing as well as 
by speaking. There have sometimes been sent to me papers 
covered with writing ; some of which were exactly like papers 
written by hand, and others like papers that had been printed, 
in the world : I also could read them in the same manner ; but 
I was not permitted to draw from them more than a sentence or 
two ; the reason of which was, because it is not according to 
Divine order for a man to be instructed from heaven by writ- 
ings, but only by the Word, because it is only by the Word 
that communication and conjunction are effected between hea- 
ven and the world, thus, between the Lord and man. That 
papers written in heaven also appeared to the prophets, is evi- 
dent from Ezekiel : ''^ And when Hooked^ heJiold^ a Jiaiid was 
sent unto me / and^ lo^ a roll of a hooh was therein : and he 
spread it before me : and it loas written within and without ^ — 
(Ch. ii. 9, 10.) And in John : '''And I saw in the right hand 
of Him that sat on the throne^ a hooh^ written within and on 
the hack side^ sealed with seven seals^—^K^Y. v. 1.) 

259. That there should be writings in heaven, was provided 
by the Lord for the sake of the Word. The Word, in its 
essence, is the Divine Truth, from which all the heavenly wis- 
dom, enjoyed by men and by angels, is derived : for it was dic- 
tated by the Lord ; and what is dictated by the Lord passes 
through all the heavens in order, and terminates with man. 

(*) That external obsessions, or those of the body, do not exist at this day, as for- 
merly, n. 1983. But that, at thiij day, internal obsessions, which are those of the mind, 
exist more than formerly, nn. 19S3, 4793. That man is obsessed interiorly, when he 
has filthy and scandalous thoiiijhts concerning God and his neiQfhbor, and when he is 
only witiiheld from publishing them by external bonds, which relate to tlie fear of the 
loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, to the dread of the law, and to the loss Of life, n. 
5990. Of the diaboliciil spirits who chiefly obsess the interiors of man, n. 4793. Of 
certain diabolical spirits who are desirous to obse^ss the exteriors of man, but are shut 
up in hell, nn. 2752. 5990. 

121 



260, 261 HEATEN. 

Thus originating and proceeding, it ie accommodated botL to 
the wisdom proper to angels, and to the intelligence enjoyed 
by men. From this cause it is, that the Word is possessed, 
also, by the angels, and that they read it jnst as men do on 
earth: from it, likewise, their tenets of doctrine are deduced; 
and from it, their sermons are composed (n. 221). It is the 
same Word ; only its natural sense, which is our literal sense, 
does not exist in heaven, but its spiritual sense, which is its in- 
ternal sense. (What is the nature of this sense, may be seen in 
the little w^ork On the White Horse mentioned in the Revelor 
iion^ 

260. There was once sent to me from heaven a bit of paper, 
on which were only written a few words in Hebrew characters ; 
and it was stated, that every letter involved arcana of wisdom, 
these being contained in the inflections and curvatures of the 
letters, and thence also in the sounds. It hence was made evi- 
dent to me what is meant by these words of the Lord : " Verily^ 
I say %mto you^ Till heaven and earth pasSy one jot or one tittle 
shall in no wise pass from the Ztj^ii?."-— (Matt. v. 18.) That the 
Word is Divine as to every tittle, is also known in the church ; 
but where its Divinity in every tittle lies, is not yet known; 
wherefore it shall be declared. 

The writing in the inmost heaven consists of various inflected 
and circumflected forms ; and those inflections and circumflec- 
tions are disposed according to the form of heaven. By these, 
the angels express the arcana of their wisdom, including many 
that cannot be vocally uttered ; and, what is wonderful, the an- 
gels know how to write in this manner without taking any pains 
to learn, or being taught by a master. It is inherent in them, 
as their speech itself is. (On which subject, see n. 236.) Thus 
this writing of theirs is heavenly writing. The reason that the 
knowledge of it is inherent in the angels, is, because the diffu- 
sion of their thoughts and affections, and thence the communi- 
cation of their intelligence and wisdom, proceeds, in every in- 
stance, according to the form of heaven (see n. 201), whence 
their writing, also, flows into that form. It has been told me, 
that the most ancient inhabitants of this earth, before alphabetic 
writing was invented, had writing of this sort ; and that this 
was transferred into the letters of the Hebrew language, all 
which, in ancient times, wei^ inflected, and none of them had 
the square form in use at present. From this cause it is, that, 
in the Word, Divine things, and heavenly arcana, are contained 
in its very iotas, dots, and tittles. 

261. This sort of writing, by characters of heavenly form, is in 
use in the inmost heaven, the inhabitants of which, in wisdom, 
excel all others. By those characters they express the affections, 
from which their thoughts flow, and follow in order according 
to the subject under consideration. On this account, those 

122 



HEAVEN. 262, 263 

writings involve arcana which no thought can exhaust. It has 
also been granted me to see such writings. But in the inferior 
heavens, such writings as these do not exist. The writings in 
these heavens are like those in the w^orld, formed with similar 
letters : jet even these are not intelligible to man, being in the 
angelic tongue, which is of such a nature as to have nothing in 
common with human languages (n. 237); for by the vowels they 
express affections, by the consonants, the ideas of thought pro- 
ceeding from those affections, and by the words composed ol 
both, the meaning of the subject under consideration. (See above, 
nn. 236, 24:1.) This kind of writing also includes in a few words 
more than a man can express in several pages. Writings of this 
kind have likewise been seen by me. In the inferior heavens, 
they have the Word written in this manner; and, in the inmost 
heaven, they have it written by heavenly forms. 

262. It is a remarkable fact, that, in the heavens, their 
writings flow naturally from their thoughts themselves, and are 
executed with such facility, that it is as if their thoughts threw 
themselves on the paper ; nor does the hand ever pause for the 
selection of a word, because the words themselves, both when 
they speak and when they write, correspond to the ideas of their 
thought; and all correspondence is natural and spontaneous. 
There also are writings in the heavens, produced, without the 
intervention of the hand, from mere correspondence with the 
thoughts ; but these are not permanent. 

263. I have also seen writings obtained from heaven, which 
consisted of nothing but numbers, written in order and series 
exactly like writings composed of letters and words ; and I was 
instructed, that this sort of writing is derived from the inmost 
heaven, and that their heavenly writing mentioned above 
(nn. 260, 261), takes the form of numbers among the angels of 
an inferior heaven, when thought, derived from that heavenly 
writing, flows down thither ; and that that writing composed of 
numbers likewise includes arcana, some of which cannot be 
comprehended by the thoughts, nor expressed by words. (*) Foi 
all numbers have their correspondence, and bear a signification 
according to such correspondence, just like words. There is, 
however, this difference : that numbers involve general ideas, 
and words particular ones ; and since one general idea includes 
innumerable particular ones, it follows that the kind of writing 
composed of numbers includes more arcana than that composed 
of letters. From these facts it was made to me evident, that, in 
the Word, numbers signify things, as much as words do. (What 

C) That all numbers, in the Word, signify things, nn. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 
1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4670, 6175, "'9488, 9659, 10,217, 10,258. Shown from 
hciiven, nn. 4495, 5265. That numbers multiplied signify similar things with tha 
simple numbers, from which they result by multiplication, nn. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. 
That the most ancient people had heavenly f.rcana in numbers, forming a kind of com- 
putation of tilings relating to the church, n. 575. 

123 



264—266 HEAVEN. 

the simple numbers, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, signify; 
and what ttie componnd numbers, such as 20, 30, 50, 70, 100, 
144, 1000, 10000, 12000, and others, may be seen in the Arcana 
Ccelestia^ in the places where those numbers are treated of.) In 
that kind of writing in heaven, that number is always placed 
first, on which those that follow in the series depend as their sub- 
ject ; for that number is as an index, pointing out what subject 
is treated of; and from that first number, those which follow 
obtain their determination to that subject specifically. 

264. Such persons as possess no knowledge respecting heaven, 
and are unwilling to form any idea of it but as of a mere atmos- 
pherical region, in which the angels fiit about like intellectual 
minds destitute of the senses of hearing and sight, cannot possibly 
conceive that they have speech and writing ; for they place the 
existence of every thing real in material nature. It nevertheless 
is true, that the objects which exist in heaven, exist as really as 
those in the world ; and that the angels, who dwell there, possess 
every thing which can be of use, either for life, or for wisdom. 



UF THE WISDOM OF THE AN'GELS OF HEAVEN. 

265. Of what nature is the wisdom of the angels of heaven, 
can with difficulty be comprehended : because it so much tran- 
scends the wisdom of men as to preclude all comparison ; and 
that which transcends the wisdom of men, appears to them to 
have no existence. To describe it, also, some unknown truths 
must be adduced; and things unknown, before they become 
known, appear in the understanding like shadows, and thus 
conceal the subject in question, as to its intrinsic nature. These 
unknown truths, however, are such as may be known, and, 
when known, be comprehended, provided the mind take delight 
in such knowledge : for delight carries light 'with it, because it 
proceeds from love ; and on those who love such things as belong 
to Divine and heavenly wisdom, light shines from heaven, and 
they receive illumination. 

266. A conclusion may be formed as to the nature of the 
wisdom of the angels, from the circumstance, that they dwell in 
the light of heaven, and the light of heaven, in its essence, is the 
Divine Truth, or Divine Wisdom ; which light simultaneously 
enlightens their internal sight, which is that of the mind, and 
their external sight, which is that of the eyes. (That the light 
of heaven is the Divine Truth, or Divine Wisdom, may be seen 
above, nn. 126 — 133.) The angels dwell, also, in the heat of 
heaven, which, in its essence, is the Divine Good, or Divine 
Love ; from which they derive the aftection of being wise, and 
the desire to be so. (That the heat of heaven is the Divine 
Good, or Divine Love, may be seen above, nn. 133 — 140.) 

124 



HEAVEN. 206 

That the angels are in the enjoyment of wisdom, to such a 
degree that they might be called Wisdoms, absolutely, may be 
concluded from this fact : that all their thoughts and affections 
flow according to the form of heaven, which is the form of the 
Divine AVisdom ; and that their interiors, which receive wisdom, 
are framed after that form. (That the thoughts and affections of 
the angels flow according to the form of heaven, consequently, 
also, their intelligence and wisdom, may be seen above, nn. 
201 — 212.) That the angels are in the enjoyment of super- 
eminent wisdom, may also be evident from this circumstance, 
that their speech is the speech of w^isdom, since it flows imme- 
diatel}' and spontaneously from their thought, as this does from 
their affection, so that their speech is thought and affection in 
an external form ; whence there is nothing to withdraw them 
from the Divine influx, nothing extraneous being present, such 
as, with man, intrudes into his speech from thoughts not con- 
nected with the subject. (That the speech of the angels is that 
of their thought and affection, may be seen above, nn. 234 — 245.) 
To exalt the wisdom of the angels to such excellence, this cir- 
cumstance, also, conspires : that all things which they see with 
their eyes, and perceive by their senses, are in concord with 
their wisdom, because they are correspondences ; and thence 
the objects which they behold are forms representative of such 
things as belong to wisdom. (That all the objects which appear 
in heaven are correspondences to the interiors of the angels, 
and are representations of their wisdom, may be seen above, 
nn. ITO — 182.) Besides, the thoughts of the angels are not bound- 
ed and confined by ideas derived from space and time, as the 
thoughts of men are ; for space and time are things proper to 
nature, and things proper to nature withdraw the mind from 
such as are spiritual, and deprive of extension the intellectual 
sight. (That the ideas of the angels derive nothing from space 
and time, and thus, compared with those of men, are free fi*om 
limitation, may be seen above, nn. 162 — 169, and 191 — 199.) 
^Neither are the thoughts of the angels drawn down to earthly 
and material subjects, nor interrupted by any cares about the 
necessaries of life; consequently, they are not withdrawn by 
such matters from the delightful contemplation of wisdom, as 
are the thoughts of men in the world ; since they receive all 
things that they have need of gratis from the Lord : they are 
clotlied gratis, they are fed gratis, and they are lodged gratis 
(see nn. 181, 190) ; and they are gifted, in addition, with what- 
ever can conduce to their enjoyment and pleasure, according 
to their reception of wisdom from the Lord. These statements 
are made, that it may be known whence the angels derive such 
exalted wisdom. (^) 

(*) Of the wisdom of the angels, and that it is incomprehensible and ineffable, nn, 
8795, 2796, 2802, 3314, 3404, 3405, 9094, 9176. 

125 



267 HEAVEN. 

267. Tlie reason that the angels are capable of receiving such 
exalted wisdom, is, because their interiors are open ; and wisdom, 
like every other perfection, increases in ascending towards the 
interiors, thus, in proportion to the degree in which the interiors 
are open.Q There exist, with every angel, three degrees of life, 
corresponding to the three heavens (see nn. 29 — 40) : those in 
whom the first degree is open, dwell in the first or ultimate 
heaven ; those in whom the second degree is open, inhabit the 
second or middle heaven ; and those in w^hom the third deo-ree 
is open, reside in the third or inmost heaven. The wisdom of 
the angels in the heavens proceeds according to these degrees ; 
consequently, the wisdom of the angels of the inmost heaven 
immensely transcends that of the angels of the middle heaven, 
and the wisdom of these no less transcends that of the angels oi 
the ultimate heaven. (See above, nn. 209, 210 ; and respecting 
the nature of the degrees, n. 38.) The reason that such dis- 
tinctions exist, is because those things whicb are in a superior 
degree are particular, and those in an inferior are general, and 
things general are the continents of things particular. Tilings 
particular, in respect to things general, are as thousands or 
myriads to one; and so is the wisdom of the angels of a superior 
heaven, respectively, to that of the angels of an inferior heaven. 
The wisdom, however, of these last, transcends that of man in 
the same j^roportion. For man exists in the corporeal nature 
and its sensual organs and apprehensions, and the corporeal 
sensual organs and apprehensions of man are stationed in the 
lowest degree of all. It may hence be evident, what sort of 
wisdom is possessed by those who think from the suggestions 
of their sensual organs and apprehensions, or of those who are 
called sensual men ; and it will be seen, that they are not in the 
enjoyment of wisdom at all, but only of a superficial kind of 
knowledge.(^) It is different, however, with those men whoso 

(^) That so far as man is elevated from things external towards interior things, he 
30mes into light, and thus into intelligence, nn. 6188, 6313. That there is an actual 
elevation, nn. 7816, 10,880. That elevation from things external to things interior is 
like elevation out of a mist into light, n. 4598. That exterior things are more remote 
from the Divine Being as dwelling in man, wherefore they are respectively obscure, 
n. 6451. And likewise respectively inordinate, nn. 996, 3855. That interior thiiigs arc 
more perfect, because nearer to the Divine Being, nn. 5146, 5147. That in what ii* 
internal there are thousands and thousands of things which appear as one general 
thing in wluit is external, n. 5707. That hence tliought and perception are clearer in 
proportion as they are interior, n. 5920. 

('^) That the sensual principle is the ultimate of the life of man, adhering to, and 
inhering in, his corporeal nature, nn. 5u77, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730. That he is 
called a sensual man who judges and concludes respecting all things from the senses of 
the body, and who believes nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with 
liis hands, nn. 5094, 7693. That such a man thinks in externals, and not interiorly in 
iiiinself, nn. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693. Tliat his interiors are closed, so that he sees 
nothing therein of spiritual truth, nn, 6564, 6844, 6845. In a word, that he is in gross 
natural light, and thus perceives nothing which beloniis to the light of heavp'T nn. 6201, 
6810, 6564', 6844, 6845, 659^, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624. That interiorly he is in contrariety 
to those things wliich relate to heaven and the church, nn. 6201, 6816, 6844, 6845, 6948, 
6949. That those learned men become of such a character, who have confirmed them- 
•el'cs against the truths of the church, n. 6316. That sensual men are cunning and 

126 



HEAVEN. 268, 269 

thoughts are elevated above their sensua. apprehenriions ; and 
still more so with those whose interiors are open to the actual 
light of heaven. 

26S. How great is the wisdom of the angels, may be evident 
from this circumstance; that, in the heavens, there is a universal 
communication, so that the intelligence and w^isdom of one are 
communicated to another. Heaven, in short, is a communion 
of all things good. The reason is, because heavenly love is of 
such a nature, as to desire that whatever is its own should be 
another's : consequently, no one in heaven regards the good he 
possesses to be good in himself, unless it be also in others. This, 
likewise, is the origin of the happiness of heaven. The angels 
derive this tendency to impart whatever they possess to others, 
from the Lord, whose Divine Love is of this nature. That there 
exists such a communication in the heavens, is a truth which it 
has also been granted me to know by experience. Certain sim- 
ple spirits were once taken up into heaven ; and when they had 
entered, they entered, also, into the wisdom of the angels : they 
then understood such things as they before could not at all com- 
prehend, and they said such things, as, in their former state, they 
could not possibly utter. 

269. The nature of the wisdom of the ano^els cannot be de- 
scribed by words ; it can only be illustrated by some general 
facts belonging to it. Angels can express in one word what 
man cannot do in a thousand ; and besides this, there are com- 
prised in one word of angelic language innumerable things, 
which cannot be expressed in the words of human language at 
all ; for in every one of the words uttered by angels tliere are 
arcana of wisdom in continuous connection, beyond what human 
sciences can ever reach. Such things, also, as the angels do not 
fully express by the words of their discourse, they supply by the 
sound of it, in which is contained the aflection belonging to the 
things spoken of in their proper order : for, as was observed 
above (nn. 236, 2J:1), they express affections by the sounds, and 
the ideas of thought proceeding from those affections by the 
words ; on which account it is, that the w^ords heard in heaven 
are said to be unspeakable.* The angels can also recite, in a 
few^ words, the whole contents of any book, and they infuse into 
every word such contents, as elevate it to the expression of in- 
terior wisdom. For their speech is of such a nature, that its 
sounds harmonize with the affections, and every w^ord with the 
ideas : the words, likewise, are varied in infinite w^ays, accord- 
ing to the series of the things which exist collectively in their 
thoughts. The interior angels, also, are able, from the tone of 

malicious more than others, nn. 7693, 10,236. That they reason sharply and cunningly, 
but from the corporeal memory ; in doing which they make all intelligence to consist, 
nn. 195, 196, 5700, 10,236. Bat that they reason from the fallacies of the senses, nn. 
5084, 6948, 6949, 7693. 
* 2 Cor. xii. ^—N. 

127 



269, 270 HEAVEi;. 

voice, coupled with a few words uttered bj any one, to obtain 
a knowledge of the speaker's whole life ; for from the sound 
variegated by the ideas in the words, they perceive his ruling 
love, in which are contained, as if written thereon, all the par- 
ticulars of his life.(^) From these facts it is evident, what is the 
nature of the wisdom of the angels. Their wisdom, in compari 
son with human wisdom, is as a myriad to one ; much as the 
moving forces of the whole body, which are innumerable, are to 
the action which results from them, though, to human sense, 
they appear as one ; or as the thousands of parts of an object 
viewed by a perfect microscope, to the single obscure thing 
which they form to the naked eye. I will also illustrate the 
subject by an example. A certain angel gave a description, 
from his wisdom, of regeneration : he enumerated some of the 
arcana belonging to it, in their proper order, to the amount of 
some hundreds, and he filled every arcanum with ideas, in 
which were still more interior arcana. This he did from be- 
ginning to end ; for he explained how the spiritual man is con- 
ceived anew, is carried, as it were, in the womb, is born, grows 
up, and is successively perfected. He said that he could multi- 
ply the number of arcana to several thousands ; and that still 
those which he spoke of only related to the regeneration of the 
external man, and that those relating to the regeneration of the 
internal man would be innumerably more. From this and sim- 
ilar examples that I have heard from angels, it was made evi- 
dent to me, how great is their wisdom, and how great, respec- 
tively, the ignorance of man ; for he scarcely knows what 
regeneration is, and is not acquainted with any step of its pro- 
gression while he is undergoing it. 

270. The wisdom of the angels of the third or inmost heaven, 
and how far it exceeds the wisdom of the angels of the first 
heaven, shall now be treated of The wisdom of the angels of 
the third or inmost heaven is incomprehensible, even to the in- 
habitants of the ultimate heaven : the reason is, because the 
interiors of the angels of the third heaven are open to the third 
degree, whereas the interiors of the angels of the first heaven 
are open only to the first degree ; and all wisdom increases as it 
ascends towards the interiors, and is perfected according to the 
degree in which they are opened (nn. 208, 267). Since the 
interiors of the angels of the third or inmost heaven are open to 

(*) That what governs, or has the universal dorainion with man, exists in all th* 
particulars of his hfe, thus in all the particulars of his affection and thought, nn. 4459, 
5949, 6159, 6571, 7648, 8067, 8853—8858. That the quality of man is such as his gov- 
erning love is, nn. 918, 1040, 8858; illustrated by_ examples, nn. 8854, 8857. That 
what reigns universally constitutes the life of the spirit of man, n. 7648. That it is his 
very will, his verv love, and the end of his life ; since what a man wills, he loves, and 
what he love.<, he regards as an end, nn. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1909, 3796, 5949, 6936. That 
therefore man is of such a quality as his will is ; or of such a quality as his governing 
love is; or of such a quality as the end of his life is, nn. 1568, 1571, 3570, 4054, 6571, 
6934, 6938, 8S56, 10,076, 10,'l09, 10,110, 10,284. 

128 



njijAVEN. 27c 

vhe third degree, they have divine truths, as it were, inscribed 
on them. For the interiors of the third degree are disposed, 
more than the interiors of the second and first degree, in the 
form of lieaven, and the form of heaven exists from the Divine 
Truth, consequently, according to the Divine Wisdom. It is 
from til is cause that divine truths appear, to those angels, as if 
inscribed on their interiors, or as if inherent and innate. On 
this account, when they hear genuine divine truths, they imme- 
diately recognize and perceive them as such, and afterwards 
inwardly see them, as it were, in themselves. Since the angels 
of that lieaven are of such a character, they never reason about 
divine truths, much less do they hold controversy about any 
truth, disputing whether it be so or not; nor do they know 
what is meant by believing or having faith ; for they say, '' What 
is faith ? I perceive and see that the truth is so." They illus- 
trate this by comparisons, such as these : To urge a person who 
Bees the truth in himself to believe or have faith, would be, they 
say, as if a person who sees a house, with various objects in and 
around it, should tell his companion, that he must believe the 
house to be a house, and the other objects to be what he sees that 
they are : or as if, on seeing a garden, with trees and fruit in it, 
he should exhort the other to have faith that it is a garden, and 
that the trees and fruit are trees and fruit ; although he sees 
them plainly with his eyes. On this account, those angels never 
mention faith, nor have the least idea of it ; and therefore they 
never reason about divine truths, much less do they enter into 
controversy about any particular truth, disputing whether it be 
so or not.(-^) But the angels of the first or ultimate heaven 
have not divine truths thus inscribed on their interiors, by 
reason that, with them, only the first degree of life is open : 
they, consequently, reason about truths ; and those who have 
recourse to reasoning, scarcely see any thing beyond the imme- 
diate object about which they reason, or go beyond the subject 
in debate further than to confirm it by certain arguments ; and 
when they have so confirmed it, they say, that it is a point of 
faith, and must be believed. I have conversed with the angels 
on these subjects; when they said, that the difference between 
the wisdom of the angels of the third heaven, and that of the 
angek of the first heaven, is like that between what is lucid and 
what is obscure. They also compared the wisdom of the angels 
of the third heaven to an elegant palace, full of suitable furni- 
ture, standing in the midst of an extensive paradise, and sur- 

C) That the celestial angels are acquainted with innumerable things, and are im- 
mensely wiser than the spiritual angels, n. 2718. That the celestial angels do not 
think and speak from a principle of faith, like the spiritual angels, inasmuch as they 
are in the enjoyment of a perception from the Lord of all things relating to faith, nn. 
202, 597, G07, 7''84, 1121, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10,336. That in 
regard to truths of faith, they say only. Yea, yea, or Nay, nay, but that the spiritual 
angels reason whether it be so, 'nn. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10,786, where the Lori'a 
words are explained, ^'-Let your discourse ie Yea, yea, Nay, nay'''' (Matt. v. 87). 

9 ' 329 



270, 271 HEAVEK 

rounded with magnificent objects of various kinds ; and they 
said that those angels, being grounded in truths of wisdom, are 
able to enter the palace and view its splendid contents, and also 
to walk about the paradises in every direction, and enjoy all 
their beauties. But it is different, they said, with those who 
reason about truths, and especially with those who dispute 
about them, and who, because they do not see truths by the 
light of truth, but either imbibe them from others, or from the 
literal sense of the Word not interiorly understood, insist that 
they must be believed, or that faith is to be had in them ; after 
which they are unwilling to allow any interior view of them to 
be taken. Of these, the angels said, that they cannot apj^roach 
the first threshold of the palace of wisdom, much less enter it, 
and walk about in its paradises, because they stand still at the 
first step of the w^ay towards it ; whereas they who are grounded 
in truths themselves, find no obstacle to their making progress 
without limit; for truths inwardly seen lead them w^herever 
they go, and open wide fields before them ; by reason that 
svery truth is of infinite extent, and is in connection w^ith nu- 
merous others. They said, further, that the w^isdom of the 
angels of the inmost heaven chiefly consists in this, that they 
behold divine and heavenly things in every object they see, and, 
in a series of many objects together, such as are wonderful : for 
all the things that appear before their eyes have their proper 
correspondence. Hence, when they see, for example, palaces 
and gardens, their view does not terminate in the objects before 
their eyes, but they see, also, the interior things from w^hich 
they originate, and to w^hich, therefore, they correspond. These 
they behold, with all possible variety, according to the aspect 
which the objects present : consequently they see innumerable 
things, simultaneously, in their regular order and connection ; 
and their minds derive such enjoyment from the view, that they 
seem to be carried out of themselves. (That all things which 
appear in the heavens correspond to the divine things which 
are present with the angels from the Lord, may be seen above, 
nn. 170—176.) 

271. The reason that the angels of the third heaven are of 
such a character, is, because they are grounded in love to the 
Lord ; and that love opens the interiors belonging to the mind 
to the third degree, and is the receptacle of all the elements of 
wisdom. It should be known, further, that the angels of the 
inmost heaven are, notwithstanding, being perfected in wisdom 
continually, and that this perfecting is differently effected with 
them, than it is with the angels of the ultimate heaven. ^ The 
angels of the inmost heaven do not deposit divine truths in the 
memory, and, consequently, do not form of them any thing like 
a science, but, as soon as they hear them, they recognize them 
by perception, and commit them to life. This is the reason that 
130 



HEAVEN. 271, 272 



diviiiG truths permanently abide with them, as if they were in- 
Bcribed on their interiors ; for what is committed to life, remains 
thus inherent. But it is different with the angels of the ulti- 
mate heaven. These lirst deposit divine truths in their memory 
and store them up among the things that they know: they 
afterwards bring them forth from this storehouse, and apply 
them to the perfecting of their understanding ; and then, with- 
out any interior perception whether they are truths or not, they 
make them objects of their will, and commit them to life. 
Hence their state, respectively, is one of obscurity. It is wor- 
thy of mention, that the angels of the third heaven are perfected 
in wisdom by the way of hearing, not by that of sight. The 
truths which they hear by preaching do not enter their mem- 
ory, but pass immediately into their perception and will, and 
are incorporated in their life ; w^hereas the objects which these 
angels behold with their eyes, enter their memory, and on these 
they reason and converse. It was made manifest to me from 
these facts, that, with them, the way of hearing is the way of 
wisdom. This, also, is from correspondence ; for the ear corre- 
sponds to obedience, and obedience belongs to the life ; whereas 
the eye corresponds to intelligence, and intelligence has rela- 
tion to doctrine. (^) The state, also, of these angels, is described 
in the Word throughout; as in Jeremiah : '-^ I will put my law 
in their inward parts ^ a7id write it in their hearts. They shall 
teach no more every man his neighbor^ and every man his hro- 
ther.^ saying^ Know ye Jehovah: for they shall all know me^ 
from the least of them unto the greatest of them., saith Jeho- 
vah.'^'' — (Ch. xxxi. 33, 34.) And in Matthew : '-'Let your com- 
munication he^ yea^ yea / JVay^ nay : for whatsoever is more 
than these., cometh of evil. "^^ — (Ch. v. 37.) It is said that what is 
more than these cometh of evil, because it is not from the Lord : 
for the truths which are in the angels of the third heaven are 
from the Lord, because those angels are grounded in love to 
Him. Love to the Lord, in that heaven, consists in willing and 
doing Divine Truth ; for the Divine Truth is the Lord in 
heaven. 

272. In addition to the reasons above adduced, why tl e angels 
are capable of receiving such exalted wisdom, another is to be 
mentioned, which, in heaven, is the chief of all ; it is, that 
they are free from self-love ; for just in proportion as any one 
is free from that love, he is capable of attaining wisdom in re- 
gard to divine things. That love is what closes the interiors 

(") Of the correspondence of the ear and of hearing, nn. 4652 — 4660. That the ear 
corresponds to perception and obedience, and that hence it sig2:ifies those faculties, 
nn. 2542, 3869, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 9311, 9397, 10,065. That it signifies the recep- 
tion of truths, nn. 5471, 5475, 9926. Concerning the correspondence of the eye and ot 
its sight, nn. 4403 — 4421, 4523 — 4534. That the sight of the eye, hence, signifies the 
intelligence wliich belongs to faith ; and also signifies faith, nn. 2701, 4410, 4526, 6928, 
9051, 10,569. 

131 



273 275 HEAVEN. 

against tlie Lord and heaven, whilst It opens the exteriors, and 
turns them towards self. On this account, all with whom that 
love is dominant, are immersed in thick darkness in regard to 
the things of heaven, w^hatever light tliej may enjoy in regard 
to those of the world. The angels, on the contrary, being free 
from that love, are in the light of wisdom : for the heavenly 
loves in which they are grounded, which are love to the Lord 
and love towards the neighbor, open the interiors ; by reason 
that those loves come from the Lord, and the Lord himself is in 
them. (That those loves constitute heaven in general, and form 
heaven with every one in particular, may be seen above, nn. 
13 — 19.) Since heavenly loves open the interiors to the Lord, 
all the angels, in consequence, turn their faces towards the 
Lord (n. 142). For, in the spiritual world, the love turns the 
interiors of every one towards itself, and in the same direction 
as it turns the interiors, it also turns the face ; for the face, 
there, acts as one with the interiors, being the external form of 
them. Since the love turns the interiors and the face towards 
itself, it likewise conjoins itself with them, love being spiritual 
conjunction ; whence, also, it communicates with them all that 
it possesses. It is from this turning, and consequent conjunc- 
tion and communication, that the angels derive their wisdom. 
(That all conjunction, in the spiritual world, depends upon the 
direction in which the inhabitants turn themselves, may be seen 
above, n. 255.) 

273. The angels are being perfected in wdsdom continually ;(^) 
but still they never can attain such perfection, as to cause there 
to be any proportion between their wisdom and the Divine 
Wisdom of the Lord ; for the Lord's Divine Wisdom is Lilinite, 
whilst that of the angels is finite ; and between Infinite and 
finite there can be no proportion. 

274. Since wisdom perfects the angels, and constitutes their 
life; and since heaven with all its goods enters by influx into 
every one according to his wisdom — it follows that all the in- 
habitants of heaven must desire wisdom, and feel an appetite 
for it, much as a hungry man does for food. Knowledge, intel- 
ligence, and wisdom, are, likewise, spiritual nourishment, as 
food is natural nourishment ; and they mutually correspond to 
each other. 

275. The angels in one heaven, and those in one society of 
heaven, are not all in the enjoyment of similar degrees of wis- 
dom. Those who are stationed in the centre are in the greatest 
degree of wisdom, and those in the circumferences, to the last 
boundary of all, are in less and less. The diminution of their 
wisdom in proportion to their respective distances from the cen- 
tre, is like that of light verging towards shade. (See above, nu 

(') That the angels advance in perfection to eternity, nn. 4803, 6648. 

132 



HEAVEN. 276, 277 

i3, 128.) They have light, also, in similar degrees ; since the 
light of heaven is the Divine Wisdom, and every (me dwells in 
light in proportion to his reception of that Wisdom. (Of the 
light of heaven, and its various reception, see above, nn. 126 — ■ 
132.) 



OF THE STATE OF INNOCENCE OF THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 

276. What innocence is and what its nature, is known to few 
in the world, and not at all to those who are immersed in evil. 
It appears, indeed, before men's eyes, displaying itself in the 
face, speech, and gestures, more especially of little children : 
but still what it consists in is not known, much less that it is the 
principle in which heaven inmostly abides with man. In order, 
therefore, that it may be understood, I will proceed regularly to 
treat, first of the innocence of infancy, next, of the innocence 
of wisdom, and finally, of the state of heaven, in regard to 
innocence. 

277. The innocence of infancy, or of little children, is not 
genuine innocence, since it only exists in external form, and not 
in internal : and yet we may learn from it what the nature of 
innocence is ; for it shines forth from their faces, from some of 
their gestures, and from their infantile prattle, and acts upon 
the atfections of the observer. The reason is, because they 
have no internal thought ; for they as yet do not know" what 
either good and evil, or truth and falsity, are ; and these are the 
elements from which thought exists. On this account, they 
have no prudence derived from pro^riwn^ no purpose and de- 
liberate object, and, consequently, no end of an evil nature. 
They have no ^ropriuni acquired by the love of self and the 
world : they attribute nothing to themselves, and all things that 
they receive they refer to their parents : they are content and 
pleased with the few and trifling objects which are given them ; 
they have no anxiety about food and clothing, and none about 
future events : they do not look to the world, and covet w 
multitude of its possessions : they love their parents, their 
nurses, and their infantile companions, with whom they inno- 
cently play : they sulfer themselves to be led by those who have 
the care of them, whom they listen to, and obey. Such being 
their state, they receive all they are taught in the life ; whence 
they acquire, without knowing how, becoming manners, speech, 
and the rudiment of memory and thought; for the reception 
and imbibing of all which, their state of innocence serves as a 
medium. This innocence, however, as observed above, is exter* 

133 



277, 278 HEAVEN. 



iial, being only of tlie body and not of the mind,(^) their mind 
being not vet formed : for the mind consists of understanding 
and will, with thought and affection thence proceeding. It has 
been told me from heaven, that little children are especially 
under the Lord's auspices ; and that there is an influx from the 
inmost heaven, where the state of innocence prevails, which 
passes through their interiors, affecting them, in its transit, 
with nothing but innocence ; that it is from this source that 
innocence displays itself in their faces, and in some of their 
gestures, and becomes apparent : and that this is what so inti- 
mately affects their parents, and produces the peculiar emotion 
called parental love. 

278. The innocence of wisdom is genuine innocence, since it 
is internal : for it belongs to the mind itself, consequently, to 
the will itself, and to the understanding thence derived : and 
when in these there is innocence, there also is wisdom, for they 
are its seat. On this account it is said in heaven, that inno- 
cence dwells in wisdom, and that an angel possesses wisdom in 
proportion as he possesses innocence. That such is the fact, 
they confirm by these considerations : That those who are in a 
state of innocence attribute nothing of good to themselves, but 
regard every thing of the kind as gifts received, ascribing them 
to the Lord : that they desire to be led by Him, and not by 
themselves : that they love every thing that is good, and are 
delighted with every thing that is true ; because they know and 
perceive, that to love good, consequently to will and do it, is 
to love the Lord, and to love truth is to love their neighbor : 
that they live content with what is their own, whether little or 
much, because they know that all receive as much as is good 
for them, those for whom little is best receiving little, and those 
for whom much is best receiving much ; and that they do not 
know, themselves, what is best for them, this being only known 
to the Lord, all whose providence regards things eternal. Of 
this account, also, they are not anxious about things future, and 
call all such anxiety care for the morrow, which they define to 
be grief for the loss, or for not receiving, of such things as are 
not necessary for the uses of life. They never, in dealing with 
their associates, have in view any end of an evil nature, but act 
from principles of goodness, justice, and sincerity : to act with 
an evil end in view they call cunning, which they shun as the 
poison of a serpent, because it is diametrically contrary to inno- 
cence. Loving nothing more than to be led by the Lord, and 

(^) That the innocence of infants is not true innocence, but that true innocenct 
dwells in wisdom, nn. 1616, 2305, 2306, 8495, 4503, 4797, 5608, 9301, 10,021. That the 
good of infancy is not spiritual good, but that it becomes so by the implantation ol 
truth, n. 3504. That, nevertheless, the good of infancy is a medmm by which intelli 
gence is implanted, nn. 1616, 3183, 9301. 10,110. That maa, without the good of inuo- 
«-)ence infused in infancy, would bo a wild beast, n. 8494. That whatsoever is imbibed 
in infancy, appears natural, n. 3494. 

134 



HEAVEN. 278, 279 

ascribing all that they enjoy to the Lord, as gifts received from 
him, they are removed from their proprium.^ and in proportion 
as any are removed from this, the Lord enters by influx ; on 
which account it is, that whatever they hear from Him, w^iether 
through the medium of the Word or through that of preaching, 
they do not lay by in the memory, but immediately obey it, 
that is, will and do it, the will itself beinoj their memorv. 
These, for the most part, have the appearance of simplicity in 
their external form, but, in their internal, are wise and prudent ; 
and it is these who are meant by the Lord, when he says, ^^Bg 
ye wise as serpents^ and harmless as dovesP — (Matt. x. 16.) 
Such is the character of the innocence which is called the inno- 
cence of wisdom. Since innocence attributes nothing of good 
to self, but ascribes it all to the Lord — and since, consequently, 
it loves to be led by the Lord, and, on that account, is the re- 
ceptacle of all good and truth, which are the constituents of 
wisdom — therefore man was so created, as, when an infant, to 
exist in innocence, though such as is external, and, when an old 
man, io be grounded in internal innocence, that by the former 
he may proceed to the latter, and from the latter may returr. 
into the former. On this account, also, w^hen a man grows old, 
he diminishes in size, and becomes, as it were, an infant anew ; 
only he is now as a wise infant, consequently an angel ; for an 
angel is a wise infant, using the terms in an eminent sense. 
This is the reason that, in the Word, an infant or little child 
signifies one who is innocent,(^) and an old man, a wise man in 
w^iom there is innocence. 

279. The like takes j^lace wath every one w^ho becomes re- 
generate- Regeneration is re-birth as to the spiritual man. 
The person w^lio undergoes it is first introduced into the inno- 
cence of infancy, which consists in the acknowledgment that 
man has no knowledge of truth, nor ability to do good, from 
himself, but only from the Lord, and in desiring and seeking 
after truth and goodness solely for their own sake. They also 
are given him by the Lord, as he advances in age. He is led 
first into the knowledge of them, then, from knowledge, into 
intelligence, and finally, from intelligence, into wisdom. Lmo- 
cence accompanies him all the Avay; which consists, as just 
observed, in the acknowledgment, that man has no knowledge 
of truth, nor ability to do good, from himself, but only from the 
Lord. Without this belief, and a percej^tion of its truth, no one 
can receive any heavenly gift ; and it is in this that the inno- 
cence of wisdom chiefly consists. 

('•') That by infants, in the Word, is signified innocence, n. 5608. And likewi^^e r»y 
sucklings, n, 3183. That by an old man is signified a wise man, and, in the abstract 
sense, wisdom, nn. 3183, 6524. That man is so created, that in proportion as he vcrgeji 
to old age, he may become as an infant, and that then innocerce may reside in wis- 
dom, and tliat the man in that state may pass into heaven, acd become an angel, un. 
8183, 5608. 

135 



280, 281 HEAVEN. 

280. Since innocence consists in being led by the Lord, and 
not b}^ self, all the inhabitants of heaven are in the enjoyment 
of innocence ; for all who have a place in heaven love to be led 
by the Lord. For they know that to lead one's self is to be led 
by one's own pro^'iiim^ and the jproprium of man consists in 
loving himself, and he who loves himself does not submit to be 
led by another. On this account, so far as an angel is grounded 
in innocence, he is actually in heaven ; that is, he is so far in 
the reception of the Divine Good and Divine Truth ; for to be 
in the reception of these is to be in heaven. In consequence ol 
this, the heavens are distinguished according to their innocence. 
Those who inhabit the first or ultimate heaven, are grounded in 
innocence of the first or ultimate degree ; those who belong to 
the second or middle heaven, in innocence of the second or 
middle degree ; but those who belong to the inmost or third 
heaven, in innocence of the third or inmost degree. These, 
therefore, may be said to be innocence itself, in relation to 
heaven at large ; for, beyond all others, they love to be led by 
the Lord, as little children by their father ; on which account, 
also, they receive the Divine Truth which they hear, whether it 
comes from the Lord immediately, or mediately by the Word 
and by preaching, directly in the will, enter on the practice 
of it, and thus commit it to the life. It is from this cause that 
their wisdom is so great, and so far exceeds that of the angels 
of the inferior heavens. (See nn. 270, 271.) Because these 
angels are of such a character, they dwell nearest to the Lord, 
from whom their innocence is derived : they also are separated 
from their jprojpriura^ so that they live, as it were, in the Lord. 
In outward form they appear simple, and, to the eyes of the 
angels of the inferior heavens, as little children, thus as of small 
stature. They also appear like such as do not possess much 
wisdom, though they are the wisest of the angels of heaven : for 
they know that they possess not an atom of wisdom from them- 
selves, and that wisdom consists in the acknowledgment of this 
truth. They likewise are conscious, that what they know is as 
nothing in respect to what they do not know ; and they affirm, 
that to know, acknowledge, and see this by perception, is the 
first step towards wisdom. Those angels, also, are naked, be- 
cause nakedness corresponds to iniiocence.(^) 

281. I have had much conversation with angels respecting 
innocence, and have been instructed by them that it is the esse 
of every thing good, and that, on this account, good is really 
good in proportion as there is innocence within it ; consequently, 

(") That all in the inmost heaven are forms of innocence, nn. 154, 2786, S887. And 
that therefore they appear to others as infants, n. 154. That they are also naked, nn. 
165, 8375, 0960. That nakedness is a mark of innocence, nn. 165, 8375. That spirits 
have a custom of testifying their innocence by putting off their clothes, and presenting 
themselves naked, nn. 8375, 9960. 

136 



% 



HEAVEN. 2S1, 282 

that wisdom is really wisdom in proportion as it partakes of in- 
nocence; and that it is the same witii love, charity, and faith.(*) 
I have likewise been instructed by them, that this is the reason 
that no one can enter heaven without innocence ; which is w^hat 
is meant by the Lord, when he says, ''^Suffer the little children 
to come xtnto me^ and fo rind them not : for of such is the king- 
doin of God, Verily I say unto you^ Whosoever shall not receive 
the Idngdom of God as a little child,, shall not enter therein^ — 
(Mark x. 14, 15 ; Luke xviii. 16, 17^ By little children in this 
passage, and in other parts of the AY^^rd, ai-e meant such as are 
innocent. The state of innocence is also described by the Lord, 
but by pure correspondences, in Matt. vi. 25 — 34. The reason 
that good is really good in proportion as there is innocence 
within it, is, because all good is from the Lord, and innocence 
consists in being willing to be led by Him. I have been further 
instructed by the angels, that truth cannot be conjoined with 
good, nor good with truth, except by innocence as a medium. 
On this account, also, it is, that no angel can be an angel of 
heaven unless innocence be in him : for heaven does not reside 
in any one, until truth is conjoined in him with good ; whence 
the conjunction of truth and good is called the heavenly mar- 
riao-e, and the heavenlv marrias^e is heaven itself. I have been 
instructed, in addition, that love truly conjugial derives its exist- 
ence from innocence, because it derives its existence from the 
conjunction of the good and truth in which two minds, — those 
of the husband and wife, — are established, and when that con- 
junction descends into a lower sphere, it displays itself under 
the form of conjugial love; for the married partners mutually 
love each other, in the same manner as their minds do. On 
this account, in conjugial love there is a playfulness, like that of 
infimcy, and like that of innocence.(^) 

2b2. Since innocence is the verj^ esse of good as abiding in the 
angels of heaven, it is evident that the Divine G-ood proceeding 
from the Lord is innocence itself; for it is that good which flows 
into the angels, and affects the inmost recesses of their minds, and 
disposes and fits them for the reception of every good of heaven. 

(*) That every good of love and truth of faith ought to have inaoceuce in it, that it 
may be good and true, nn. 2526, 2780, 3111, 3994, 6018, 7840, 9262, 10,134. That iiino- 
eence is the essential of wliat is good and true, nn. 2780, 7840. That no one i< admitted 
into heaven unless lie has something of innocence, n. 4797. 

(') That love truly conjugial is innocence, u. 2736. That conjugial love consists in 
willing what the other wills, thus mutually and reciprocally, n. 2731. That those who 
are in the enjoyment of conjugial love dwell together in the inmost principles of their 
115?. n. 2732, Tiiat there is a union of two minds, and thus that from love they are one, 
nn. iv,16S, 10,169, Tliat love truly conjugial derives its origin and essence from the 
marriage of good and truth, nn. 2728, 2729.' Of certain angelic spirits, who have a per- 
ception whether there be a conjugial principle, from the idea of the coniunetion of good 
and of truth, n. 10,756. Tiuitconiuirial love is altosrether circumstanced like the conjunc- 
tion of good and of truth, nn. 1094, 2173, 2429, 25u3, 3103, 3132, 3155, 3179, 31sO, 4355, 
5407, 5835, 9206, 92u7, 94vt5, 9'337. That therefore, in the Word, by marriage is under- 
etood the marruige of good and truth, such as exists in heaven, and such as should 
exiiit in the church, nn. 3132, 4434, 4S35. 

137 



283, 284: HEAVEN. 

It is similar with little children, whose interiors are not only 
formed by the transflux of innocence from the Lor(., but are also 
continually fitted and disposed for the reception of the good of 
celestial love : for the good of innocence acts from the inmost 
ground of all, it being, as already observed, the esse of every 
thing good. From these facts it may be obvious, that all inno- 
cence is from the Lord ; on which account it is, that the Lord, 
in the Word, is called a Lamb, a lamb signifying innocence.C*) 
Since innocence is the inmost principle in every good of heaven, 
it has such a powder of affecting the mind, that whoever is made 
sensible of it, as occurs on the approach of an angel of the inmost 
heaven, feels as if he were unable to contain himself; and seems, 
in consequence, to be seized and transported with such delight^ 
that every delight belonging to this world appears as nothing in 
compai'ison. 1 speak this from experience. 

283. All who are grounded in the good of innocence, are 
affected by innocence ; and this in proportion to the degree in 
w^hich it exists in themselves. But those who are not grounded 
in the good of innocence, are not affected by it. Consequently, 
all the inhabitants of hell are diametrically opposed to innocence : 
they do not even know what innocence is : nay, they are of such 
a nature, that in proportion as any one is innocent, they burn to 
do him injury ; on which account, they cannot bear the sight of 
little children, and, as soon as they behold them, they are in- 
flamed w4th a cruel desire to hurt them. It is manifest from 
these facts, that the propriuin of man, and thence the love of 
self, is opposite to innocence ; for all the inhabitants of hell are 
immersed in lYioiY ^ro^rium^ and thence in the love of s.elf.(^) 



OF THE STATE OF PEACE m HEAVEK 

284. No one who has not been in the actual enjoyment of the 
peace of heaven, can have any perception of what the peace is Id 
which the angels exist. For man, so long as he remains in the 
body, cannot receive the peace of heaven, consequently, cannot 
have a perception of it, because the seat of his perceptions is in 
his natural man. In order to his having a perception of the 
peace of heaven, it is necessary that his state should be such, as 
to admit of his being elevated and withdrawn, as to his thought, 
from the body, and kept in the spirit, and being, when in the 
spirit, in company with angels. Since I have had a perception, 

y*) Tliat a lamb, in the Word, signifies innocence and its good, nn. o9&4, 10,132. 

C) That iha propi-ium of man consists in loving himself in preference to God, nnd 
the world in preference to heaven, and in making his neighbor of no account in respect 
to himself; thus that it consists in the love of self and of the world, nn. 694, 731, 4317j 
5660. That the wicked are altogether opposed to ianooencej so that they cannot ciidme 
its presence, n. 2126. 

138 



HEAVEN. 285—287 

in this way, of the peace of heaven, I am enabled to describe it ; 
not, however, as to its intrinsic nature, by words, because human 
words are not adequate to the subject ; but only as to its nature 
in comparison with that composure of mind, which is enjoyed 
by those who are content in God. 

2S5. The inmost elements of heaven are two; which are, inno- 
cence and peace. They are said to be the inmost, because they 
immediately proceed from the Lord. Innocence is that from 
which is derived every good of heaven ; and peace is that from 
which is derived all the delight which good carries with it. All 
good has its delight; and each, both the good and the delight, is 
related to love; for what a ma,n loves, he calls good, and feels as 
delightful. It hence follows, that those two inmost elements, 
iimocence and peace, proceed from the Lord's Divine Love, and 
affect the angels from the inmost of their frame. That innocence 
is the inmost element of good, has been shown in the Section 
immediately preceding, which treats of the state of innocence of 
the angels of heaven ; but that peace is the inmost element of 
the delight proceeding from the good of innocence, shall be now 
explained. 

286. The origin of peace shall first be declared. Divine Peace 
exists in the Lord, resulting from the union, in Him, of the Es- 
sential Divinity and the Divine Humanity. The Divine Sphere 
of Peace that exists in heaven proceeds from the Lord, resulting 
from His conjunction with the angels of heaven; and, in par- 
ticular, from the conjunction of good and ti-uth in every angel. 
These are the origins of peace. It may hence be seen, that peace 
in the heavens, is the Divine Sphere that proceeds from the Lord, 
in mostly affecting with beatitude all the good which there exists : 
which beatitude, consequently, is the source of all the joy ot 
heaven ; and that this is, in its essence, the Divine Joy of the 
Lord's Divine Love, resulting from His conjunction with heaven, 
and with its every inhabitant. This joy, perceived by the Lord 
in the angels, and by the angels from the Lord, is peace. It is 
from this, by derivation, that the angels experience all that is 
blessed, delightful, and happy ; or what is denominated heav- 
enly joy.^) 

287. The origins of peace being from this source, the Lord is 
called the Prince of Peace, and says that peace is from Him, 
and is in Him : so, also, the angels are denominated angels of 
peace, and heaven the habitation of peace ; as in these passages : 
" Unto us a Child is horn^ wnto us a Son is given : and the gov- 
ernment shall he ujpon His shoulder: and His name shall he 

(*) That by peace, in the supreme sense, is meant the Lord, because from Him is 
peace ; and, in the internal sense, heaven, because the inhabitants are in a state of 
peace, nn. 3780, 4681. That peace, in the heavens, is the Divine Sphere inmostly 
affecting with blessedness every good and truth there ; and that it is incomprehensible 
to man, nn. 92, 3780, 5662, 8455, 8665. That divine peace reside* in good, but not iu 
truth without good, n. 8722. 

139 



287 HEAVEN. 

called Wonderful^ Counsellor^ tlie Mighty God. the Everlasting 
Father^ the Prince of Peace." — (Isa. ix. 6.) Jesus said, "Peace 
Heave vnth you: iny peace I give unto you j not as the world 
giveth^ give I unto you, — (John xiv. 27.) " These things have 1 
spoken unto you^ that in me ye mighty have peace." — (Ch. xvi. 33.) 
''^Jehovah lift up his countenance upon you^ and give you peace." 
— (JSTum. vi. 26.) '^ The ambassadors'''' — more literally — "The 
ANGELS OF PEACE shall wecp bitterly. The highways lie waste?''' 
— (Isa. xxxiii. 7, 8.) " TAe worh of righteousness shall be peace. 
— And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation" — 
more literally — " a habitation of peace." — (Ch. xxxii. 17, 18.) 
That Divine and heavenly peace is the peace which is meant in 
the Word, may also appear from other places where it is named. 
(As Isa. lii. 7, liv. 10, lix. 8 ; Jer. xvi. 5, xxv. 37, xxix. 11 ; Hag. 
ii. 9 ; Zech. viii. 12 ; Ps. xxxvii. 37 ; and elsewhere.) Since peace 
signifies the Lord and heaven, and also heavenly joy and the de- 
light that accompanies good, the salutations of ancient times, 
consisted in saying, ''''Peace be %mto you f as is also sometimes 
the case at the present day. This form, likewise, the Lord con- 
firmed, who said to the disciples when he sent them forth, ^''Into 
whatsoever house ye enter., first say^ Peace be to this house / and 
if the son of peace be there., your peace shall rest upon it.'''' — 
(Luke X. 5, 6.) The Lord Himself, likewise, when He appeared 
to the apostles, said to them, "Peace be unto you?'' — (John xx. 
19, 21, 26.) A state of peace is also meant in the Word, when it 
is said that ''''Jehovah smelted an odor of rest" (as in the original 
of Ex. xxix. 18, 25, 41 ; Lev. i. 9, 13, 17 ; ii. 2, 9 ; vi. 8, 14 ; xxiii. 
12, 13, 18 ; Num. xv. 3, 7, 13 ; xxviii. 6, 8, 13 ; xxix. 2, 6, 8, 13, 36) : 
by an odor of rest, in the celestial sense, is signified, the perception 
of peace.(^) Since peace signifies the union of the Essential Divin- 
ity and the Divine Humanity in the Lord, and the conjunction 
of the Lord with heaven and with the church, and with all the 
inhabitants of heaven, together with all in the church who receive 
Him, therefore, in remembrance of these things, the sabbath was 
instituted, was named from rest or peace, and was the most holy 
representative of the church ; and for the same reason, the Lord 
called Himself the Lord of the sabbath.(^) — (Matt. xii. 8 ; Mark 
ii. 27, 28 ; Luke vi. 5.) 

i^) That odor, in the Word, signifies the perceptivity of what is agreeable or disa- 
greeable, according to the quality of the love and tlie iaith, of which it is predicated, 
nn. 3577, 4626, 4628, 4748, 5621, 10,292. That an odor of rest, when applied to Jehovah, 
denotes a perception of peace, nn. 1)25, 10,054. That on this account, frankincense, 
incense, odors in oils and ointments, were made representative, nn. 925, 4748, 5621, 
10,177. . 

(') That the sabbath, in the supreme sense, signified the union of the Essential 
Divinity, and the Divine Humanity in the Lord; in the internal sense, the conjunction 
of thelJivine Humanity of the Lord with heaven and with the church; in general, the 
conjunction of good and truth, thus the heavenly marriage, nn. 84i)5, 10,356, 10,730. 
Hence, that resting on the sabbath day signified the state of that union, because then 
the Lord has rest, and by it there is peace and salvation in the heavens and in the 
earth; and, in the respective sense, the conjunc'ion >f the Lord with man, because then 
be has peace and salvation, nn. 8494, 8510, 10,360, 0,307, 10.370, 10,374, 10,668, 10,780. 

140 



HEAVEN. 288, 289 

288. Since the peace of Leaven is the Divine Sphere tiiat pro- 
ceeds from the Lord inmostly affecting with beatitude the good 
which exists with the angels, it does not come manifestly to their 
perception, except by the delight of heart which they feel when 
ill the enjoyment of the good of their life, and by the pleasure 
which they experience when they hear such truth as agrees w^ith 
their good, together with the hilarity of mind of which they are 
sensible when they perceive the conjunction of such good and 
truth; nevertheless, it thence flows into all the acts slwj thoughts 
uf their life, displaying itself under the form of jo/, even in 
outward development. But peace differs in the heavens, with 
respect to its quality and quantity, according to the innocence 
of the inhabitants, since innocence and peace always go hand in 
hand ; for, as observed above, innocence is that from which 
proceeds all the good of heaven, and peace is that from which 
proceeds all the delight which that good carries with it. It 
iijuiy hence be seen, that the same things as were stated in the 
preceding Section respecting the state of innocence in the heav- 
ens, may be repeated here respecting the state of peace ; since 
innocence and peace are joined together, like good and the 
delight which attends it ; for good is made sensible by the 
delight which attends it, and the nature of the delight is known 
by that of its good. Such being the case, it is evident, that the 
angels of the inmost or third heaven are in the enjoyment of the 
third or inmost degree of peace, because they are grounded in 
the third or inmost degree of innocence ; and that the angels of 
the inferior heavens are in the enjoyment of a minor degree of 
peace, because grounded in a minor degree of innocence. (See 
above, n. 280.) That innocence and peace go together, like 
good and its attendant delight, is evident from the case of little 
children ; who, being in the possession of innocence, are also in 
the enjoyment of peace ; and being in the enjoyment of peace, 
all their thoughts and actions are full of playfulness. Peace, 
however, as existing w^ith little children, is external ; but interna) 
peace, like internal innocence, is only to be found in wisdom ; 
whence, also, it is found in the conjunction of good and truth, foi 
it is from this origin that wisdom exists. Heavenly or angelic 
peace is also found in men, when they aie in the enjoyment of 
wisdom derived from the conjunction of good and truth, and who 
thence feel themselves content in God : so long, however, as they 
live in the world, it lies concealed in their interiors; but when 
they leave the bod}^, and enter heaven, it is revealed ; for then 
the interiors are opened. 

289. Since divine peace originates from the conjunction of the 
Lord with heaven, and, in every angel in particular, from the 
conjunction of good and truth, it follows, that when the angels 
are in a state of love, they are in a state of peace ; for it is then 
that the conjunction of good with truth is effected in thena. 



289, 290 HEAVEN. 

(That the states of the angels undergo regular changes, may be 
seen above, nn. 154 — 160.) It is similar with man in the course 
of his regeneration: when the conjunction of good and truth 
takes place with him, which is chiefly effected after temptations, 
he comes into a state of delight originating in heavenly peace. (^) 
This peace may be compared to the morning or dawn in the 
season of spring ; at which time, the night being ended, and the 
sun rising, all the productions of the earth begin to live anew; 
the scent of the flowers, sprinkled w4th the dew which descends 
from heaven, is spread abroad ; and, through the medium ot the 
vernal temperature, fertility is imparted to the soil, and a serene 
pleasure is diffused through the human mind : all which effects 
take place, because the morning or dawn, in the season of spring, 
corresponds to the state of peace of the angels in heaven. (^) (See 
n. 155.) 

290. I have also conversed respecting peace with the angels ; 
when I observed, that it is called peace in the w^orld when wars 
and hostilities cease between kingdoms, and quarrels and dis- 
sensions between men ; and that it is imagined that interna, 
peace consists in repose of mind on the removal of cares, and 
especially in tranquillity and delight resulting from the success 
of our undertakings. But the angels said, that repose of mind, 
and tranquillity and delight, on the removal of cares and the 
success of our undertakings, appear like the offspring of peace, 
and yet are not, except with those who are grounded in heavenly 
good : for peace is never to be found except in that good ; since 
peace flows from the Lord into the inmost part of their minds, 
whence it descends, and flows down into the lower parts, where 
it shows itself under the forms of repose of the rational mind, 
tranquillity of the natural mind, and joy thence resulting. But 
with those w^ho are immersed in evil, no peace can exist.(^) It 
appears, indeed, when things go as they wish, as if they expe- 
rienced rest, tranquillity, and delight : but all this is external, 
and not at all internal : internally they are burning, all the 
while, with enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and many other 
evil lusts ; into which their external mind, also, rushes, break- 
ing out into violence if not restrained by fear, as soon as they 
see any one who is not favorable to them. This is the reason 
that their delight dwells in insanity ; whereas the delight of 
those who are grounded in good dwells in wisdom. The difter- 
ence is as wide as that between hell and heaven. 



(*) That the conjunction of good and truth with the man who it> regenerating, is 
effected in a state of peace, nn. 3696, 8517. 

(') That the state of peace, in the heavens, is like the state of day-aawn and of spring, 
on' earth, nn. 1726, 2780, 5662. 

(") That the lasts which originate in the love of self and of the world, entirely take 
away peace, nn. ;5170, 5662. That some make peace to consist in restlessness, and in 
such things as ure contrary to peace, n. 5662. That there can be no peace, unless th« 
lusts of evil are removed, n. 5662. 

142 



HEAVEN. 291, 292 



OF THE CONJUNCTION OF HEAVEN WITH THE HUMAN RACE. 

291. It is known in the church, that all good is from God, and 
none at all from man, and that, consequently, no one ought to 
ascribe any thing good to himself as his own. It is also known, 
that evil is from the devil. They, therefore, who frame their 
language by the doctrine of the church, say, respecting persons 
who live well, and also respecting such as converse and preach 
piously, that they are led by God ; and the contrary respecting 
persons who live ill and speak in an impious manner. None of 
these things could be so, had not man conjunction with heaven, 
and conjunction with hell ; nor unless those conjunctions were 
formed with his will and with his understanding, since it is from 
these that the body acts, and the mouth speaks. The nature of 
that conjunction shall now be declared. 

292. There are present with every man both good and evil 
spirits : by the good spirits his conjunction with heaven is 
etlected, and by the evil, his conjunction with hell. Those 
spirits are inhabitants of the world of spirits, which is the 
intermediate region between heaven and hell, and which will 
be treated of specifically in the following pages. When those 
spirits come to a man, they enter into all his memory, and 
thence into all his thoughts ; the evil spirits entering into those 
particulars of his memory and thoughts which are evil, but the 
good spirits into those which are good. The spirits are not at 
all aware that they are present with the man, but, while they 
are so, they imagine that all the particulars which belong to the 
man's memory and thoughts are their own : neither do they see 
the man, because the objects of our solar world do not fall within 
the sphere of their vision. (^) The greatest care is exercised by 
the Lord to prevent the spirits from knowing that they are 
present with a man ; for if they knew it, they would speak with 
him, and then the evil spirits would destroy him; for evil spirits, 
being in conjunction with hell, desire nothing more ardently 
than to destroy man, not only as to his soul, that is, as to his 
faith and love, but as to his body also. It is otherwise when 
they do not speak with the man : they do not then know^ that 
they draw from him the subjects on which they think, and also 
those on which they converse with each other ; for they draw 
tho subjects on which they converse with each other from the 
man, but believe all the while that they are their own, and 
every one esteems and loves what is his own ; in consequence 

(*) That angels and spirits are attendant on every man, and that, by them, man has 
communication with the spiritual world, nn. 697," 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846— 
5866, 5976 — 5993. That man without spirits attendant on him cannot live, n. 599S. 
That man does not appear to spirits, 'nor spirits to man, n. 5862. That spirits can see 
nothing which is in our solar world, that is present to a mar except to him with whoir 
they speak, n. 1880. 

143 



293, 294 HEAVEN. 

of whicli ^he spirits are made to love and esteem the mau, 
although they are not aware of it. That such a conjunction of 
spirits with man really exists, has been made so thoroughly 
known to me by the uninterrupted experience of many years, 
that there is nothing which I know more certainly. 

293. The reason that spirits who communicate with hell are 
also adjoined to man, is, because man is born into evils of every 
kind, whence his first life is derived entirely from them ; where- 
fore, unless spirits were adjoined to man of the same quality as 
himself, he could not live, nay, he could not be withdrawn from 
his evils and be reformed. On this account, he is held in his 
own life by evil spirits, and withheld from it by good spirits. 
Through the agency of the two, also, he is placed in equilib- 
rium ; and being in equilibrium, he has his liberty, and can be 
withdrawn from evils, and inclined to good, and good can also 
be implanted in him, which could not possibly be effected were 
he not in a state of liberty ; nor could he be endowed with liberty, 
did not spirits from hell act on him on one side, and spirits from 
heaven on the other, the man standing in the middle. It has 
also been shown me, that man, so far as he partakes of his 
hereditary nature, and thus of self, would have no life, if it were 
not permitted him to be in evil ; nor yet if he were not in a state 
of liberty ; and further, that he cannot be driven to good by 
compulsion, and that what is infused by compulsion is not per- 
manent; as also, that the good which man receives in a state of 
liberty is implanted in his will, and becomes as if it w^ere his 
own -fi) and that these are the reasons why man has communi- 
cation both with hell and with heaven. 

294. The nature of the communication of heaven with good 
spirits, and of hell w^ith evil spirits ; and thence, the nature of 
the conjunction of heaven and hell with man ; shall also be de- 
clared. All the spirits w4io are stationed in the w^orld of spirits, 
have communication either with heaven or with hell, the evil 
wdth hell, and the ffood with heaven : heaven is divided into 

~ ••IT 

distinct societies ; and so is hell : and every spirit belongs to 
one of those societies, and also subsists by the influx thence 
proceeding; whence he acts rn unity with that society. It 
hence results, that as man is conjoined with spirits, so is he, 
likewise, either with heaven or with hell, and, in reality, with 
that particular society in one or the other, which is the native 

(") That all freedom is connected with love and affection, since what a man loves he 
does freely, nn. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9585—9591. As freedom is an adjunct of love, 
that it is an adjunct of man's life, n. 2873. That nothing appears as man's own but 
what is from freedom, n. 2880. That man ouc^ht to have freedom, to be capable of 
being reformed, nn. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031, 8700. That, other- 
wise, the love of good and of truth cannot be implanted in man, and be appropriated 
apparently as his own, nn. 2877, 2879, 28S0, 2888, 8700. That nothing is conjoined to 
man which is the result of coinpulsion, nn. 2875, 8700. That if mau could be reformed 
by c impulsion, all would be reformed, n. 2881 . That what is of compulsion in reformat 
lion is hurtful, n. 4031. \Vhat states of compulsion are, n. 8392, 

144: 



HEAVEN. 295, 296 

seat of his peculiar affection or of his peculiar love : for all the 
societies of heaven have their distinctions according to the affec- 
tions of good and of truth ; and all the societies of hell according 
to the distinctions of evil and falsitv. (See above, nn. 41 — 45, 
and 148—151.) 

295. The spirits adjoined to a man are of such a quality, as 
he is himself as to affection or as to love ; only the good spirits 
are adjoined to him by the Lord, but the evil ones are invited 
by the man himself. The spirits present with man are, however, 
changed, according to the changes of his affections. Spirits of 
one class are with him in infancy, of another in childhood, of 
another in youth and manhood, and of another in old age. In 
infancy, those spirits are present with man who are distin- 
guished for innocence, and who, consequently, communicate 
with the heaven of innocence, which is the inmost or third 
heaven : in childhood, those sj)irits are present who are charac- 
terized by the affection of knowing, and who, in consequence, 
communicate with the ultimate or iirst heaven : in youth and 
manhood, those are present who eminently cherish the affection 
of truth and good, and who thence are grounded in intelligence, 
consequently, w^ho communicate with the second or middle 
heaven : but in old age, those spirits are present who are 
eminently grounded in wisdom and innocence, and who, con- 
sequently, communicate with the inmost or third heaven. This 
adjunction, however, is effected by the Lord, where the parties 
are such as are capalDle of being reformed and regenerated : but 
it is different with those who are not. To these, also, good 
spirits are adjoined, that they may be withheld by them from 
evil as much as possible : but their immediate conjunction is 
with evil spirits who communicate with hell, so that the spirits 
attached to them are of the same quality as are the men them- 
selves. If they are lovers of themselves, or lovers of gain, or 
lovers of revenge, or lovers of adultery, similar spirits are present 
with them, and dwell, as it were, in their evil affections. These 
spirits, so far as the man cannot be restrained from evil by the 
good spirits, set him on fire, and, so far as their affection reigns 
in him, they adhere to him, and never recede. Thus is a wicked 
man conjoined with hell, and a good man with heaven. 

296. The reason that man is governed by the Lord through 
the instrumentality of spirits, is, because he does not stand in 
the order of heaven. He is born into evils which are those of 
hell, thus into a state which is diametrically opposite to divine 
order ; consequently he has to be brought back into order ; and 
this can only be effected mediately, through the instrumentality 
of spirits. It would be different if man were born into good, 
which is according to the order of heaven : he would not then 
be governed by the Lord through spirits, but by order itself, 
consequently, by the common influx. Man is governed by this 

10 145 



296, 297 HEAVEN. 

influx as to those things which proceed from his thought and 
will into act, thus as to his speech and actions, for both the ono 
and the other of these flow according to natural order: with 
these, therefore, the spirits that are adjoined to man have nothing 
in common. Animals, likewise, are governed by the common 
influx proceeding from the spiritual world ; for animals exist in 
the order of their life, which thej have not been able to pervert 
and destroy, because they have no rational faculty .(^) (What 
is the distinction between men and beasts, may be seen above, 
n. 39.) 

297. As to what further concerns the conjunction of heaven 
with the human race, it is to be observed, that the Lord Himself 
enters by influx into every man according to the order of heaven ; 
both into the inmost elements of his being, and into the last or 
ultimate, disposing him for the reception of heaven, and gov- 
erning his ultimate powers from his inmost, and his inmost, at 
the same time, from the ultimate, and thus keeping all things be- 
longing to him, to the minutest particulars, in connection. This 
influx of the Lord is called immediate influx ; but the other, 
which is effected through spirits, is called mediate influx : the 
latter subsists through the former. The immediate influx, which 
is that of the Lord Himself, proceeds from his Divine Humanity, 
and flows into the will of man, and, through the will, into his 
understanding; thus it flows into the good existing in man, and, 
through his good, into his truth ; or, what amounts to the same, 
into his love, and, through his love, into hi§ faith : but it never 
proceeds in the reverse order ; much less does it flow into faith 
that is without love, or into truth without good, or into an un- 
derstanding that is not derived from the will. This Divine 
Liflux is perpetual, and, by the good, is received in good, but 
not by the evil. By these, it is either rejected, or suffocated, or 
perverted ; whence their life is an evil one ; which, in a spiritual 
sense, is death.('') 

(^) That the distinction between men and beasts is, that men are capable of being 
elevated by tlie Lord to Himself, and of thinking about the Divine Being, of loving 
Him, thus of being conjoined to the Lord, whence they have eternal life; but it is 
otherwise with beasts, nn. 4525, 6323, 9231. Tiiat beasts are in the order of their life, 
and therefore they are born into things suitable to their nature ; whereas man is not, 
who must therefore be introduced by things intellectual into the order of his life, nn. 
637, 5850, 6323. That according to tiie common or general influx, thouglit, with iium, 
falls into speech, and will into gestures, nn. 5862, 5990, 6192, 6211. Of the common or 
general influx of the spiritual world into the life of beasts, nn. 1633, 3646. 

(*) That tliere is immediate influx from the Lord, and likewise mediate through the 
spiritual world, nn. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That the immediate influx of the 
Lord is into the most particular of all things, nn. 6058, 6474—6478, 8717, 8728. That 
the Lord flows into the first elements, and at the same time into the last, in what 
manner, nn. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004, 7007. 7270. That the influx of the Lord takes place 
into the good appertaining' to man, and by or through good into truth ; and not vice 
rersa^ nn. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10,153. That the life which flows in from the 
Lord varies according to the state of man and according to reception, nn. 2888, 5986, 
6472, 7343. Tiuit, witli the wicked, the good which flows in from the Lord is turned 
into evil, and tlie truth into what is false, from experience, nn. 3607, 4632. That the 
good and the truth thence derived, which continually flow from the Lord, are so far re- 
ceived, as evil and the falsity thence derived do not oppose, nn. 2411, 3142, 3147, 5828. 

146 



HEAVEN. 298, 299 

29S. The spirits who are present with man, both those that are 
in conjunction with heaven and those that are in conjunction 
with hell, never enter into man with an influx from their own 
memory and the thought thence originating, for if they were to 
enter with an influx from their own thought, the man would not 
know but that their thoughts and reminiscences were his own. 
(See above, n. 256.) By their instrumentality, however, there 
enters into man, by infl.ux, affection from heaven, which is that 
of the love of good and truth, and affection from hell, which is 
that of the love of evil and falsity. In proportion, therefore, as 
the affection of the man agrees with that which thus enters him 
bj inllcix, it is received by him in his own thought, for the inte- 
rior thought of man is in complete accord with his affection or 
love : but in proportion as it does not agree, it is not received by 
him. It hence is evident, since thought is not conveyed into 
man by the spirits, but only the afi'ection of good and the affec- 
tion of evil, that man has the power of choosing, because he has 
liberty ; thus, that he has the power of receiving good in his 
thought, and of rejecting evil; lor he knows what good and evil 
are, respectively, from the AYord. What he receives in thought 
from atfection, is, also, appropriated to him ; but what he does 
not so receive, is not. From these observations, the nature ol 
the influx into man of good from heaven, and of evil from hell, 
may evidently be seen. 

299. It has also been 2:ranted me to know the orio-in of the 
anxiety, grief of mind, and interior sadness, called melancholy, 
with which man is afl[iicted. There are certain spirits who are 
not yet in conjunction with hell, being as yet in their first state, 
which will be described hereafter, w^hen the world of spirits is 
treated of. They love undigested and malignant substances, 
such as those of food when it lies corrupting in the stomach. 
They consequently are present where such substances are to be 
found in man, because these are delightful to them ; and they 
there converse with one another from their own evil affection. 
The affection contained in their discourse thence enters the man 
by influx ; and if it is opposed to the man's affection, he experi- 
ences melancholy, sadness, and anxiety ; whereas if it agrees 
with his affection, he becomes gay and cheerful. Those spirits 
appear near the stomach, some to the left, some to the right, 
some below, and some above, with different degrees of proximity 
and remoteness ; thus they take various stations, according to 
the affections which form their character. That such is the 
origin of anxiety of mind, has been granted me to know and be 
assured of by much experience : I have seen those spirits, I have 
heard them, I have felt the anxieties arising from them, and I 
have conversed with them : they w^ere driven away, and my 
anxiety ceased ; they returned, and it returned ; and I was sen- 
sible of its increase and decrease according to their approxima- 

147 



300—302 HEAVEN. 

tion and removal. Hence was made manifest to me the origin 
of the persuasion entertained by some, who do not know what 
conscience is by reason that they have none, wlien they attribute 
its pangs to a disordered state of the stomach. (^) 

300. The conjunction of heaven with man is not like that of 
one man with another, but is a conjunction with the interiors 
which belong to his mind, thus with his spiritual or internal man. 
With his natural or external man, however, there is a conjunc- 
tion by correspondences : the nature of which will be described 
in the next Section, in which the conjunction of heaven with 
man by means of the Word will be treated of. 

301. That the conjunction of heaven with the human race, 
and of the human race with heaven, is of such a nature, that the 
one subsists from the other, will also be shown in the next 
Section. 

302. Respecting the conjunction of heaven with the human 
race, I have conversed with angels : to whom I observed, that 
the members of the church say, indeed, that all good is from 
God, and that angels are present with man ; but that still, few 
believe that they are conjoined to man, much less that they re- 
side in his thought and affection. The angels replied, that they 
know that such want of belief, connected, nevertheless, with 
such a mode of speaking, prevails in the world, especially (at 
which they wondered) within the church, where, notwithstand- 
ing, the Word exists, which imparts instruction respecting 
heaven, and respecting its conjunction with man; but that the 
conjunction, nevertheless, is of such a nature, that man cannot 
think the least in the world without having spirits adjoined to 
him, and that his spiritual life depends upon that fact. They 
declared the cause of this ignorance to be, that man fancies lie 
lives of himself, without connection with the First Esse of life, 
and does not know that that connection is maintained through 
the heavens ; although, if that connection were dissolved, he 
would instantly fall down dead. If man would believe, what 
is really the truth, that all good is from the Lord and all evil 
from hell, he would not claim merit for the good attached to 
him, nor would evil be imputed to him ; for then, in all the 
good which he thinks and does, he would look to the Lord, and 
all the evil which enters by influx would be rejected to hell 

(^) That those who have no conscience do not know what conscience is, nn. 7490, 
9121. That there are some who laugh at conscience when they hear what it is, n. 
7217. That some helieve that conscience is nothing; some, that it is something natu- 
ral, which is sad and mournful, arising either from causes in the body, or from causes 
in the world; some, that it is something peculiar to the vulgar, and occasioned by 
religion, n. 950. That there is a true conscience, a spurious conscience, and a false 
conscience, n. 1033. That pang of conscience is an anxiety of mind on account of what 
i»s unjust, insincere, and in any respect evil, which man believes to be contrary to ^Tod, 
and to the good of his neighbor, n. 7217. That they have conscience who are princi- 
pled in love to God and in charity towards their neighbor, but not they who are not 
M principled, nn. 831, 965, 2380. 7490. 

148 



HEAVEN. 303, 304 

from whence it comes. But as man does not believe that there 
is any influx from heaven and from hell, and supposes, in con- 
sequence, that whatever he thinks, and whatever he wills, is in 
himself, and thence is from himself; lie appropriates to himself 
the evil, and defiles the good which enters by influx with the 
notion of merit. 



OF THE CONJUNCTION OF HEAYEN WITH MAN BY MEANS OF 

THE WORD. 

303. Those who think from interior reason are able to see, 
that all things have a connection, by intermediate links, with 
the First Cause, and that w^hatever is not maintained in such 
connection, drops out of existence. For they know, when they 
reflect, that nothing can subsist from itself, but only from some- 
thing prior to itself, and consequently, that all things subsist 
from a First Cause ; and that the connection of any thing with 
something prior to itself, is like that of an effect with its efficient 
cause ; for when the efficient cause is withdrawn from the effect, 
the effect is dissolved, and falls to nothing. Because the learned 
have thought in this manner, they have, consequently, seen and 
affirmed, that subsistence is perpetual existence ; and thus, that 
since all things originally existed from the First Cause, they 
perpetually exist, that is, subsist, from the First Cause also. 
But what is the nature of the connection of every thing with 
that which is prior to it, and thus with the First Cause from" 
Whom all things existed, cannot be stated in few words, because 
it includes much variety and diversity ; further than that, in 
general, there is a connection of the natural world with the spir- 
itual, and that this is the reason that there is a correspondence 
between all the objects that exist in the natural world and all 
that exist in the spiritual (respecting which correspondence, see 
Hn. 103 — 115) ; and also, that there is a connection, and conse- 
quently a correspondence, between all things belonging to man 
and all things belonging to heaven (respecting which, see also 
above, nn. 87—102). 

304. Man was so created, as to have both connection and 
conjunction with the Lord, but, with the angels of heaven, only 
consociation. The reason that he has not conjunction with the 
angels, but only consociation, is, because man, by creation, is 
like an angel as to the interiors, which belong to the mind : for 
man has a will similar to that of an angel, and an understanding 
similar to his ; on which account, after deatli, man, if he has 
lived according to divine order, becomes an angel, and then 
enjoys a wisdom similar to that of the angels. When, therefore. 

149 



304, 305 HEAVEN. 

mention is made of the conjunction of man with heaven, what 
is meant is, his conjunction with the Lord and consociation 
with angels ; for heaven is not heaven bj virtue of any thing 
proper to the angels, but by virtue of the Divine Sphere of the 
Lord which constitutes it, (That the Divine Sphere of the Lord 
constitutes heaven, may be seen above, nn. Y — 22.) Man, how- 
ever, has this besides, which the angels have not, — that he not 
only exists in the spiritual world as to his interiors, but that he 
also exists at the same time in the natural world as to his exte- 
riors. His exteriors, which exist in the natural world, are all 
things belonging to his natural or external memory, and which 
thence become the subjects of his thought and imagination; in 
general, his knowledges and sciences, with their delights and 
pleasures, so far as they savor of the w^orld ; together with many 
pleasures that belong to the sensual organs and faculties of the 
body ; with which are to be reckoned, also, the senses, speech, 
and actions, themselves. All these, likewise, are the ultimate 
things, in which the Lord's divine influx terminates ; for this 
never stops in the middle, but always goes on to its ultimates. 
From these facts it may evidently appear, that in man is placed 
the ultimate of Divine order, and that, being its ultimate, he is 
its basis and foundation. Since the Lord's Divine Influx does 
not stop in the middle, but always goes on to its ultimates, as 
just observed — and since the middle region through which it 
passes is the angelic heaven, and the ultimate has place in man ; 
and since nothing unconnected can exist — it follows, that the 
connection and conjunction of heaven with the human race are 
of such a nature, that the one subsists from the other, and that 
it would fare with the human race without heaven, as with a 
chain on the removal of the staple from which it hangs ; and 
with heaven without the human race, as with a house without a 
foundation.(^) 

305. But since man has broken this connection with heaven, 
by turning his interiors away from heaven towards the world 
and himself, through the love of self and the world, and thus 
has so withdrawn himself as no longer to serve as a base and 
foundation for heaven, a medium has been provided by the Lord 

(') That nothing exists from itself, but from what is prior to itself, thus all things 
from the First Cause ; and that thev also subsist from Him who gave them existence ; 
and that to subsist is perpetually to exist, nn. 2886, 2888, 3627, 8628, 3648, 4:)23, 4o24, 
6040, 6056. That divine order does not stop in the middle, but terminates in the ulti- 
mate, and the idtimate is man ; thus that divine order terminates with man, nn. 634, 
(2853,) 3632, 5897, (6239,) 6451, 6465, 9216, (9217,) 9824, 9828, 9836, 9905, 10,044, 10,329, 
10,335, 10,548. That interior things flow by successive order into external thiusrs, 
even to the extreme or ultimate, and that there, also, they exist and subsist, nn. 634, 
6239, 6465, 9216, (9217.) That interior things exist and subsist in wha-t is ultimate in 
simultaneous order, concerning which, nn. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10,099. That hence,^ all 
interior things are held together in connection from the First Cause by the last effect, 
n. 9828. That hence the First and the Last signify all things generally and particu- 
larly, thus, the whole, nn. 10,044, 10,329, 10,335. And that hence in ultimates there 
Is strength and power, n. 9836. 

150 



HEAVEN. 305, 306 

to fill tlie place of such base and foundation, and to maintain, 
at the same time, the conjunction of heaven with man. This 
medium is the Word. (How the Word serves as such a me- 
dium, is largely shown in the Arcana Ccdestia. The passages 
may be seen collected together in the little work On the White 
Horse mentioned in the Revelation^ and also in the Appendix 
to the work On the Neio Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine ; 
whence some references are adduced in tlie Notes below.) (^) 

306. I have been instructed from heaven, that the most an- 
cient natives of this globe enjoyed immediate revelation, be- 
cause their interiors were turned towards heaven ; and that 
there then existed, in consequence, a conjunction of the Lord 
\vith the human race. But that, after those times, such imme- 
diate revelation ceased, and there was given, instead of it, a 
mediate revelation by correspondences. For the divine worship 
of the people who then existed, consisted entirely of correspond- 
ent rites ; whence the churches of those times are styled repre- 
sentative churches. For it was then known what correspond- 
ence and representation are, and that all the objects that exist 
on earth correspond to the spiritual existences belonging to 
heaven and the church ; or, what amounts to the same, that 
they represent them ; in consequence of which, the natural 
performances which composed their external worship served 
them as means for thinking spiritually, and thus in concert with 
the angels. After the science of correspondences and represen- 
tations was obliterated, the Word was written, in which all the 
words, and the meanings of the words combined in sentences,- 
are correspondences, and consequently contain a spiritual or 
internal sense, of which the angels have a perception. In con- 
sequence of this, when a man reads the Word, and understands 
it according to its literal or external sense, the angels under- 
stand it according to its spiritual or internal sens*e ; for the 



(') That the Word in its literal sense is natural, n, 8783. By reason that what is 
natural is the ultimate, in which spiritual and celestial things, which are things inte- 
rior, close, and on which they stand, as a house upon its foundation, nn. 9430, 9433, 
9824, 10,':)44, 10,436. That the Word, in order to be of such a quality, is written by 
pure correspondences, nn. 1403, 14':iS, 14o9, 1540, (1615,) 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10,687. 
That the "W ord, being of such a quality in the sense of the letter, contains a spiritual 
and celestial sense, n. 9407. And that it is accommodated both to men and angels at 
the same time, nn. 1767—1772, 1887, 2143, 2157, 2275, 233C, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2547, 
2553, 73S1, 8862, 10,322. And that it is the medium for uniting heaven and earth, nn. 
2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10,375. That the conjunction of the Lord with man 
is effected by the Wor<,l, through the medium of the internal sense, n. 10,375. Tliat 
by all things contained in the Word, to every particular, conjunction is effected; and 
that hence the Word is wonderful above all other writings, nn. 10,632, 10,633, 10,634. 
That the Lord, since the Word has been written, speaks by it with men, n. 10,290. 
That the church, where the Word is, by which the Lord is known, is, in respect to 
those who are out of the church, where the Word is not, and the Lord is not knovA'n, 
as the heart and lungs in man in respect to the other parts of the body, which live 
rrom them as from the fountains of their life, nn. 637, 931, 2054, 2853. Tliat the uni- 
versal church on earth is, before the Lord, as one man, nn. 7396, 9276. Hence, unlesh 
there was a church where the Word is, and by it the Lord is known, in this earth, th« 
biimaa race would here perish, nn. 468, 637, 931, 4545, 10,452. 

151 



306, 307 HEAVEN. 



thouglits of angels are altogether spiritual, wheieas those of 
men are natural ; and though these two kinds of thoughts ap* 
pear different, they nevertheless form a one, because thej corre- 
spond to each other. Thus it is, that, after man removed him- 
self from heaven, and broke the band which connected him 
therewith, a medium for the conjunction of heaven wdth man 
was provided by the Lord through the Word. 

307. How conjunction between heaven and man is effected 
by means of the Word, I will illustrate by citing a few passages. 
In the Revelation, the Kew Jerusalem is described in these 
words : "Z saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first 
heaven and the first earth were passed away. — And I., John^ saw 
the holy city^ new Jerusalem., coming down from God out of 
heaven. — And the city lieth four-square., and the length is as 
large as the hreadth. And he measured the dty with a reed., 
tfu^elve thousand furlongs. The length and the hreadth and the 
height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof a 
hundred and forty and four cubits., according to the measure of 
a man., that is., of the angel. And the huilding of the %call of 
it was of jasper : and the city was pure gold., like unto clear 
glass. And the foundations of tht> wall of the city were gar- 
nished with all mangier of precious stones, — And the twelve 
gates were twelve pearls : — and the street of the city was pure 
gold., as it were transparent glass.'''' — (Rev. xxi. 1, 2, 16 — 19, 21.) 
When a man reads these words, he. only understands them in 
their literal sense ; according to which the visible heaven and 
earth are to perish, a new heaven is to appear, and the holy city 
Jerusalem is to descend, and take its station upon a new earth ; 
all the dimensions of which city w^ill be such as are mentioned 
in the above description. But the angels present with the man 
underetand the whole quite differently, apprehending spiritually 
what the man apprehends naturally. They, by a new heaven 
and new earth, understand a new clmrch. By the city Jerusa- 
lem descending from God out of heaven, they understand the 
heavenly doctrine of that church, revealed by the Lord. By its 
length, breadth, and height, which are equal, each being twelve 
thousand furlongs, they understand all the goods and truths of 
that doctrine collectively. By its wall, they understand the 
truths w^hich protect it. By the measure of the wall, a hundred 
and forty -four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of 
the angel, they understand all those protecting truths considered 
collectively, and their quality. By the twelve gates, which 
were twelve pearls, they understand the truths which intix>duce ; 
pearls, also, signify such truths. By the foundations of the wall, 
which were composed of precious stones, they understand the 
knowledges upon which that doctrine is founded. By the gold 
like unto clear glass, of which both the city and its street were 
formed, they understand the good of love, which imparts clear- 
152 



HEAVEN. 307, 308 

ness to doctrine and its truths. It is tbus that the angels ap- 
prehend all these statements, quite diiferently, as is evident, 
from man ; and it is tbus that the natural ideas of man pass 
into spiritual ideas when thej reach the angels. This is effected, 
without the angels knowing any thing about the literal sense of 
the Word, or about the new heaven and the new earth, the new 
city of Jerusalem, its wall, the foundation of the wall, and its 
dimensions : and yet the thoughts of the angels form a one with 
the thoughts of man, because they correspond to them. They 
form a one, much like the words of a speaker and the sense of 
them as understood by the hearer, who does not attend to the 
words, but only to their meaning. From this example it may 
be seen, how a conjunction is effected between heaven and man 
by means of che Word. 

Let us take another example : ''''In that day there shall he a 
highway out of Egypt to Assyria j and the Assyrians shall 
come into Egypt^ and the Egyptians into Assyria^ and the 
Egyptians shall sei've with the Assyrians. In that day shall 
Israel he the third with Egypt and with Assyria^ even a Messing 
in the midst of the land: whom Jehovah of hosts shall hless^ 
saying^ Blessed he Egypt my people^ and Assyria^ the toorh of 
my hand^ a7id Israel mine inheritance^ — (Isa. xix. 23, 21, 25.) 
In what manner man thinks, and in what manner the angels, 
when these words are read, w^ill be evident from the literal sense 
of the Word, and from its internal sense. From the literal 
sense, man thinks that the Egyptians and tiie Assyrians are to 
be converted to God, and accepted by Him, and to form one 
body with the Israelitish nation : but the angels think, accord- 
ing to the internal sense, of the man of the spiritual church, who 
in that sense is here described, and wdiose spiritual mind is Is- 
rael, whose natural mind is Egypt, and whose rational mind, 
which is the intermediate, is Assyria.(^) Both these senses, 
nevertheless, compose a one, because they correspond to each 
other; whence, when the angels think spiritually, as just stated,' 
and man thinks naturally, also as just stated, there is a conjunc- 
tion between them, almost like that of the soul and the body. 
The internal sense of the Word is, likewise, its soul, and the 
literal sense its body. Such is the nature of the Word through- 
out ; whence it maj be evident, that it is a medium of conjunc- 
tion between' heaven and man, and that its literal sense serves 
as a base and foundation. 

308. A conjunction is also eifected, by means of .the Word, 
between heaven and the people who are beyond the limits of 

<^*) Thtit E^ypt and Egyptiaus iii the Word, signify the natural principle, and the 
sMjientifie thence derived,"^nn. 4967, 5079, 50S0, h^^^dh^ 5160, 5799, 6015, 6147, 6252, 7355, 
7648, 9391, 9340. That Assyria siofnifics the rational principle, nn. 119, 1186. That 
Israel siirnifies the spiritual i^rinciple, nn. 5414, 5801, 5803, 58u6, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 
5833, 5879, 5951, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6S6S, 7o05, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 
S805, 9340. 

153 



308, 309 HEAVEN. 

the cliurch, inhabiting countries wliere the Word is not known. 
For the Lord's church is universal, existing with all who ac- 
knowledge a Divine Being and live in charity ; all of whom, 
likewise, are instructed by angels after their decease, and then 
receive divine truths.(^) (Respecting which subject, see the Sec- 
tion below, which treats of the Gentiles.) The church universal 
on earth, is, in the sight of the Lord, as one man, just as heaven 
is (of which, see above, nn. 59 — 72) : but the church in which the 
Word is read, and the Lord, in consequence, is known, is like 
the heart and lungs in that man. That all the viscera and mem- 
bers of the whole body draw their life, by various derivations, 
from the heart and lungs, is well known ; so, also, do those por- 
tions of the human race, which live without the church that is 
in possession of the Word, and which constitute the members 
of that man. The conjunction effected by means of the Word 
between heaven and those who live in remote countries, mav 
also be compared to light, which is propagated from its centre 
in every direction around. In the Word is Divine Light, in 
w^hich the Lord, with heaven, is present ; and in consequence 
of His being thus present, even those at a distance are in the 
enjoyment of light. It would be very different if no Word ex- 
isted. (These truths may receive further elucidation from what 
was stated above respecting the form of heaven, according to 
which the consociations and communications of the inhabitantt* 
are arranged, nn. 200 — 212.) This, however, is an arcanum 
which is capable of being comprehended by those who are in 
the enjoyment of spiritual light, but not by those who are only 
in natural light : for by those who are in the enjoyment of spir- 
itual light, innumerable things are seen clearly, which, by those 
who are only in natural light, are not seen at all, or, if seen, 
only appear as one obscure object. 

309. Had not a Word of such a nature been given on this 
earth, its natives would have been separated from heaven, and 
had they been separated from heaven, they would no longer 
have been rational beings ; for the rational faculty of man de- 
rives its existence from the influx of the light of heaven. The 
natives of this earth, also, are of such a character, that they are 
incapable of receiving immediate revelation, and being in that 
way instructed respecting divine truths, like the inhabitants of 
other earths, of whom I have treated in a work ' expressly on 
that subject; for the natives of this earth are more immersed 
than those of others in worldly things, and consequently in their 

(*) That the church specifically exists where the Word is, by which the Lord is 
known; thus, where divine truths from heaven are revealed, nn. 8857, 10,761. That 
the church of tlie Lord exists with all in the universal terrestrial globe, who live in good 
according to the principles of their religion, nn. 3263, 6637, 10,765. That all in every 
country, wlio live in good according to the principles of their religion, and acknowledgo 
B Divine Being, are accepted of the Lord, nn. 2589—2604, 2861,"2863, 326:3, 4190, 4197, 
6700, 9256. And, besides, all infants wheresoever they are born, un. 22S9— 2309,4782. 

15i 



HEAVEN. 309, 310 

external faculties ; whereas it is the internal faculties vhich re- 
ceiv^e revelation ; were it received by the external u es, truth 
would not be understood. That such is the charact' c of the 
natives of this earth, is manifestly evident from those Adio live 
within the limits of the church, who, though the.) possess 
knowledge from the Word respecting heaven, hell, an^i the life 
after death, yet in heart deny their existence ; and amongst 
whom are some who have sought to obtain the reputation of 
superior learning, and of whom it might therefore be supposed, 
that they possessed superior wisdom. 

310. I have sometimes conversed respecting the Word with 
angels ; when I observed, that it is despised by some on account 
of the simplicity of its style ; and that nothing whatever is 
known respecting its internal sense, on which account it is not 
believed to contain such exalted wisdom concealed in its bosom. 
The angels replied, that although the style of the Word appears 
simple in the literal sense, it nevertheless is of such a nature, 
that nothing whatever can be compared with it for excellence, 
because that divine wisdom is concealed in it, not only in the 
meaning of every sentence, but in every word ; and that that 
wisdom, in heaven, shines or gives light. They meant to say 
that it is the light, of heaven, because it is Divine Truth ; for 
Divine Truth, in heaven, gives light. (See above, n. 132.) They 
said, also, that without a Word of such a nature, no degree oi 
the light of heaven would exist among the natives of our earth, 
nor could there be any conjunction between them and heaven ; 
for it is in proportion as the light of heaven is present with 
man that such conjunction exists, and also, that revelation of 
Divine Truth is made to him by means of the Word. The I'ea- 
son that man is not aware that that conjunction is effected 
through the Word's having a spiritual sense corresponding to 
its natural sense, is, because the natives of this earth have no 
knowledge respecting the spiritual thought and speech of the 
angels, and are not aware that it differs from the natural thought 
and speech of men ; and without knowing this, it is impossible 
to have any knowledge at all respecting what the internal sense 
of the Word is, nor, consequently, that such a conjunction is 
capable of being effected by means of that sense. The angels 
observed, further, that if man were aware of the existence of 
such a sense, and, when reading the Word, were to admit some 
knowledge of it to influence his thoughts, he would enter into 
interior wisdom, and into a still closer conjunction with heaven; 
because, by means of that sense, he would enter int ^ ideas fjira- 
ilar to those of the angels. 

155 



31 1 HEAVEN. 



THAT ALL THi INHABITANTS OF HEAVEN AND OF HELL ARB 
] Ei:RIVED FROM THE HUMAN RACE. 

311. It is u cerly unknown in the Christian world, that all 
the inhabitants of heaven and of hell are derived from the hu- 
man race ; for it is imagined, that the angels were created such 
from the beginning, and that this was the origin of heaven ; 
and that the devil, or Satan, was an angel of light, but that, 
becoming a rebel, he was cast down with his crew ; and that 
this was the origin of hell. The angels are exceedingly aston- 
ished that such a belief should exist in the Christian world ; 
and still more, that nothing should be known respecting heaven, 
although the existence of heaven is a primary article in the doc- 
trines of the church. As, however, such ignorance prevails, the 
angels rejoice in heart that it has pleased the Lord now to re- 
veal to mankind many particulars respecting heaven and also 
respecting hell, and by such means, as far as possible, to dispel 
the darkness, which is continually increasing, by reason that 
the church has come to its end. They therefore desire me to 
state from their lips, that there does not exjst, in the universal 
heaven, a single angel who was created such from the first, nor 
any devil- in hell who was created an angel of light and after- 
wards cast down thither ; but that all the inhabitants, both of 
heaven and of hell, are derived from the human race ; the in- 
habitants of heaven consisting of those, who, when in the w^orld, 
had lived in heavenly love and faith, and the inhabitants of hell 
of those who had lived in infernal love and faith : and further, 
that all hell, taken collectively, is what is called the devil and 
Satan, the hell which is at the back,"^ and is inhabited by those 
who are called evil genii, being termed the devil, and the hell 
which is in front,* and is inhabited by those who are called evil 
spirits, being termed Satan, (^) The nature, respectively, of 
both these hells, will be described in the following pages. The 
angels said, further, that the Christian world has fornaed such a 
belief respecting the inhabitants of heaven and hell, from cer- 
tain passages of the Word only understood according to the lit- 
eral sense, and not illustrated and explained by genuine doc- 
trine drawn from the Word ; although the literal sense of the 
Word, wiien not viewed by the light of genuine doctrine, draws 

(*) That the hells, taken together, or the i;ifernals, taken togetlier, are called the 
devil and Satan, u. 694. That those who have been devils in the world, become devils 
after Jeatb, n. 968. 

* Here the Author is to be understood as speaking of the situation of things and 
places as they appear to the spectator in the spiritual world, and which always have 
the game aspect with respect to his body, as to right and left, behind arid before, above 
ftiid beneath, &c., wheresoever he is, or which wav soever he turns sec before, im. 
128, 124.—//. 

156 



HEAVEN. 311, 312 

the mind aside into various opinions, which circumstance gives 
birth to ignorance, heresies, and errors. (^) 

312. Another reason for the existence of this belief among the 
members of the church may also be mentioned ; which is this : 
that they believe that no man will be admitted into either heav- 
en or hell till the time of the last judgment ; respecting which 
they have imbibed the opinion, that all visible objects will then 
perish, and be replaced by new ones ; and that the soul will then 
return into its body, by virtue of which reunion, man will then 
live again as a man. This belief implies the other respecting 
angels created such from the beginning : for it cannot be believed 
that the inhabitants of heaven and of hell are all derived from 
the human race, while it is imagined that no man will be ad- 
mitted into either till the end of the world. But that men might 
be convinced that such is not the fact, it has been granted me to 
enjoy the society of angels, and also to converse with the inhab- 
itants of hell. This privilege I have now enjoyed for many years, 
sometimes from morning to evening without cessation ; and 1 
have thus received information respecting both heaven and hell. 
This also has been granted me, in order that the members of the 
church might no longer adhere to their erroneous belief respect- 
ing the resurrection at the period of the last judgment, and the 
state of the soul in the mean time ; as also, respecting angels and 
the devil. This faith, being a belief of what is false, involves the 
mind in darkness, and, with persons who think on those subjects 
from self-intelligence, occasions doubt, and, finally, denial. For 
they say in their heart, how can the visible heavens, with such 
myriads of stars, and the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissi- 
23ated? And how can the stars, which are larger than the earth, 
then fall from heaven upon it ? And how can our bodies, though 
eaten by worms, consumed by putrefaction, and dispersed to all 
the winds, be gathered together again, to be reunited with their 
souls ? Where is the soul in the mean time ? and what sort of 
thing can it be, when without the senses which it had in the 
body? With many similar questions, the points referred to in 
w^hich, being incomprehensible, cannot be objects of belief, and, 
with many, destroy all belief in the life of the soul after death, 
and respecting heaven and hell, and, together with these, respect- 
ing the other points which belong to the faith of the church. That 
they have had this destructive effect, is evident from those who 

(') That the doctrine of the church must be derived from the Word, nn. 8464, 5402, 
5432, 10,763, 10,764. That the Word without doctrine is not understood, nn. 9025, 94u9, 
9424, 9430, 10,324, 10,431, 10,582. That true doctrine is a lamp to those who read the 
Word, n. 10,400. That genuine doctrine must be had from those who are in ihustraiion 
from tlie Lord, nn. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10,105. That those who abide in tlie sense 
of the letter, without doctrine, never attain any understanding respecting divine truths, 
nn. 94<iy, 94x0, 10,582. And that they are led away into many errors, n. 10,431. What 
is the dilference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the '^.harch 
derived from the Word, and those who teach and learn from the literal sense alon-j, 
n. 902;. 

151 



312 HEAVEN. 

say, Wb :> has ever come to us from heaven, and assured us of its 
existence ? What is hell ? is there such a place ? What can it 
be, for a man to be tormented in fire forever ? What is the day 
of judgment? has it not been expected for ages past, and has not 
arrived yet ? With similar observations, implying denial of the 
whole. Lest, therefore, those who think in this manner, as is 
customary with many who possess much worldly wisdom, and 
on that gromid are accounted men of erudition and learning, 
should any longer disturb and seduce the simple in faith and 
heart, and induce infernal darkness with respect to God, heaven, 
eternal life, and other subjects which depend on these, my inte- 
riors, which are of the spirit, have been opened by the Lord, and 
it has thus been given me to converse with all that ever I knew 
while they lived in the body, after their decease. With some of 
these I conversed for sev^eral days, with others for months, and 
with others for a year. I have also conversed with such multi- 
tudes of other deceased persons, that I should underrate their 
number were I to reckon them at a hundred thousand ; of whom 
many were in the heavens, and many in the hells. I have con- 
versed, too, with some, two days after their decease ; whom I 
told, that their friends were now preparing for their funeral, and 
for the burial of their remains. They re23lied, that their friends 
did well to put out of the way what had served them for a body 
and its functions in the world ; and they wished me to say, that 
they were not dead, but alive, being now as really men as before, 
having only migrated from one world into another ; and that they 
were not conscious of having lost any thing, because they were 
living in a body, possessing the faculties of sense, the same as 
before, and were also in the enjoyment of understanding and 
will, as before ; and that they had thoughts and affections, 
sensations and desires, similar to what they had in the world. 
Many of the newly deceased, when they see that they are living 
as men, as before, and are in a similar state (for the first state 
of every one's life after death is such as he was in while in the 
world ; but this is gradually changed with him, either into 
Leaven or into hell), are affected with new joy at finding them- 
selves alive, and declare that they could not have believed it: 
but they wonder exceedingly that they should have been in such 
ignorance and blindness respecting the state of their life after 
death ; and still more, that the same should possess the mem- 
bers of the church, who, above all others in the whole terrestrial 
glube, might be in the possession of light on those subjects.(^) 

(=*) That in Christendom, at this day, few believe that man rises again immediately 
after death, Preface to chap. xvi. Gen.,' and nn. 4622, 10,758 ; but that he shall ris3 again 
at the day of the last judgment, when the visible world will perish, n. 10,595. The 
reason why it is so believed, nn. 10,595, 10,758. That, nevertheless, man rises again 
immediately after death, and that then he is a man in every respect, nn. 4527, 5006, 
6078, 8939, 8991, 10,594, 10,''58. That the soul which lives after death is the spirit of 
man, which, in man, while in the world, is the man himself, and which, in the other 

158 



HEAVEN. 313, 314 

Thej then first discovereil the cause of such blindness and igno- 
rance; which is, that external things, which are such as relate 
to the world and the body, hav^e possessed and filled men's minds 
to such a degree, that they cannot be elevated into the light of 
heaven, and view the things belonging to the church farther than 
as matters of doctrine ; for w^hen corporeal and worldly things 
are so loved as they are at the present day, mere darkness flows 
from them into the mind, as soon as any one advances a step 
beyond what he has learned from doctrine. 

313. Great numbers of the learned men who come from the 
Christian world, when they see themselves, after their decease, 
possessed of a body, clothed with garments, and dwelling in 
houses, as when they were in the world, are seized with amaze- 
ment ; and when they recall to mind w^hat they had thought 
respecting the life after death, respecting the soul, respecting 
spirits, and respecting heaven and hell, they feel ashamed, and 
confess that they had thought foolishly, and that the thoughts of 
those who held their faith in simplicity were much wiser than 
theirs. The state of the learned who had confirmed themselves 
in such notions, and who had ascribed every thing to nature, 
was investigated; and it was ascertained, that their interiors 
were completely closed, and only their exteriors open, so that 
they had not looked to heaven, but to the world, and thus, also, 
to hell. For so far as a person's interiors are open, he looks to 
heaven ; but so far as they are closed, and only his exteriors are 
open, he looks to hell ; for man's interiors are formed for the re- 
ception of all things belonging to heaven, and his exteriors for 
the reception of all things belonging to the world ; and those 
who receive the world, and not heaven at the same time, receive 
hell.(^) 

314. That the inhabitants of heaven are derived from the hu- 
man race, may also be evident from the fact, that the minds of 
angels and those of men are similar to each other. Both enjoy 
the faculty of understanding, perceiving, and willing : both are 
formed for the reception of heaven. For the human mind is ca- 
pable of wisdom equally with the angelic mind ; but the reason 
that it does not enjoy wisdom in an equal degree in the world, 
is, because man is then invested with a terrestrial body, in w^hich 
his spiritual mind thinks in a natural manner : whereas, when it 
is released from its connection with that body, it no longer thinks 
in a natural but in a spiritual manner ; and when it thinks spir- 

life, is in a perfect human form, nn. 322, 1880, 1881, 8633, 4622, 4735, 5883, 6054, 6505, 
6626, 7021, 10,594; from experience, nn. 4527, 5006, 8939 ; from the ^Vord, u. 10,597. 
What is meant b)^ the deaa seen in the holy city. Matt, xxvii. 53, n. 9229. In what 
manner man is rais'id from the dead, from experience, nn. 168 — 189. Concerning his 
state after resurrection, nn. 317, 318, 319, 2119, 5079, 10,596. False opinions concerning 
the sonl and its resurrection, nn. 444, 445, 4527, 4622, 4658. 

(*) Tliat in man the spiritual and the natural world are conjoined, n. 6057. That tbsi 
internal of man is formed after the image of heaven, hut the external after the imag« 
of the world, nn. 3623, 4523, 4524, 6057, 6314, 9706, 10,156, 10,472. 

3 59 



815—317 . HEAVEN. 

itually, it embraces things incomprehensible and ineffable to the 
natural man, and thus enjoys the same wisdom as an angel. 
From these observations it may be seen, that the internal of 
man, which is called his spirit, is, in its. essence, an angel(^) 
(see above, n. 57) ; and, when released from the terrestrial body, 
is in the human form, equally with an angel. (That an angel is 
in a perfect human form, may be seen above nn. 73 — 77). But 
when a man's internal is not open above, but only below, it is 
still, after its separation from the body, in a human form, but in 
such as is direful and diabolical ; for it is unable to look upwards 
to heaven, but only downwards to hell. 

315. He who is instructed in the nature of Divine Order, may 
also understand, that man was created to become an angel : for 
in him is placed the ultimate of order (see above, n. 304), in 
which may be formed a subject of heavenly and angelic w^isdom, 
that may afterwards be renewed and multiplied. Divine Order 
never stops mid-way, and there forms a being without its ulti- 
mate ; for it is not, there, in its fulness and perfection : but it 
goes on to the ultimate, and when it has arrived there, it com- 
mences the work of formation. It also, bv means there brouo:ht 
together, renews itself, and goes on to further productions ; which 
it accomplishes by the way of procreation. In the ultimate, con- 
sequently, is the seminary of heaven. 

316. The reason that the Lord rose again, not only as to His 
spirit, but also as to His body, was, because, while He was in 
the world. He glorified the whole of His Humanity, — ^that is, 
made it Divine. For His soul, wiiich He had from the Father, 
was the Essential Divinity; and His body was made the likeness 
of His soul, that is, of the Father; consequently. Divine, also. 
Hence it was, that He, differently from any man, rose again as 
to both.(^) This, also. He made manifest to the disciples, who 
imagined, when they beheld Him, that they saw a spirit, by 
saying, ^^ Behold my hands and my feet ^ that it is I myself : 
handle Me^ ar^ see : for a spirit hath not flesh and hones ^ as ye 
see Me aavo^ (Luke xxiv. 37, 39) : by which he indicated, that 
he was not only a Man as to His spirit, but as to His body also. 

317. In order that it might be known that man lives after 
death, and goes either to heaven or to hell according to his life 
in the world, many things have been discovered to me respect- 
ing the state of man after death. These will be delivered, in 
order, in the following pages, when we treat of the World of 
Spirits. 

(*) That there are as many degrees of life in man, as there are heavens, and that they 
are opened in man after death according? to his life, nn. 3747, 9594. That heaven is in 
man, n. 3S84. That men who live a life of love and charity have in them angelic 
wisdom, which at the time, is hidden, but that they come into it after death, n. 2494. 
That a man who receives the good of love and of faith from the Lord, is called, in the 
Word, an angel, n. 10,528. 

(') That man rises airain only as to his spirit, nn. 10,593, 10,594. That the Lord alone 
rose again as to the bo'dy also, nn. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10,825. 

160 



HEAVEN. 318, 319 



OF THE STATE, IN HEAVEN, OF THE GENTILES, OR NATIVES OF 
COUNTRIES NOT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE CHURCH. 

31 S. It is a common opinion, tliat persons wlio jire horn out of 
the limits of the church, and who are called Gentiles ur Heathens, 
cannot be saved, because they do not possess the Word, and thus 
are ignorant of the Lord ; and it is certain that, without the 
Lord, there can be no salvation. Nevertheless, that salvation is 
open to these also, is a truth which might be inferred from these 
considerations alone : That the Lord's mercy is universal, or ex- 
tends to every individual ; that they are born men, as really as 
those who are born within the church, who are but few in com- 
parison; and that their being ignorant of the Lord is by no fault 
of their own. Every person who thinks from a rational faculty 
in any degree enlightened, may see clearly, that no man can be 
born designedly for hell ; since the Lord is Love itself, and His 
Love consists in desiring the salvation of all. On this account 
He provides, that all should be attached to some religion, and 
should possess, by means of it, the acknowledgment of a Divine 
Being, and interior life ; since to live according to a religious 
belief is to live interiorly ; for a man then has respect to a Divine 
Being, and so far as he does this, he does not look to the world, 
but removes himself from the world, consequently, from the life 
of the world, which is exterior life.(^) 

319. That Gentiles are saved as well as Christians, may be 
known to those who are aware what it is that constitutes heaven 
with man ; for heaven is in man, and those who have heaven in 
themselves, go to heaven after death. It is heaven in man to 
acknowledge a Divine Being, and to be led by Him. The first 
and chief essential of all religion consists in acknowledging a 
Divine Being: and a religion which does not include this ac- 
knowledgment, is no religion at all. The precepts, also, of every 
religion have respect to worship, or teach how the Divine Being 
is to be worshipped, in order to render man acceptable to Him : 
and when this is implanted in a man's mind, or in proportion as 
it is an object of his will or of his love, he is led by the Lord. 
It is known that the Gentiles live a moral life as well as Chris- 

(') That the Gentiles are saved, equally with Christians, nn. 932. 1082, 1059, 2284, 
25S9, 2590, 3778, 4190, 4197. Of the lot of the Gentiles and people who are out of the 
limits of the church in the other life, nn. 2589 — 2604. That the church is specifically 
where the Word exists, by whicli the Lord is known, nn. 8857, 10,761. Nevertheless, 
that those who are born where the Word exists, and where, by means of it, the Lord 
is known, are not on that account of the church, but those who live a life of charity 
and of faith, nn. 6637, 10,148, 10,153, 10,578, 10,645, 10,829. That the church of tho 
Lord exists with all in the universe who live in ^ood according to their religious prin- 
ciples, and acknowledge the Divine Beirg; and that they are accepted of the Lord, 
and go to heaven, nn. 2589—2604, 2861, 28^3, 3263, 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256. 

11 161 



319, 320 HEAVEisr. 

tians, and many of them better. Men live a moral life, either 
from regard to the Divine Being, or from regard to the opinion 
of the people in the world ; and when a moral life is practised 
out of regard to the Divine Being, it is a spiritual life. Both 
appear alike in their outward form, but in their inward they are 
completely different : the one saves a man, but the other does 
not ; for he that lives a moral life out of regard to the Divine 
Being, is led by Him ; but he who does so from regard to the 
opinion of people in the world, is led by himself. 

But this shall be illustrated by an example. A person who 
abstains from doing injury to his neighbor, because, to do so, 
would be contrary to religion, consequently, contrary to the will 
of the Divine Being, practises such abstinence from a spiritual 
ground : whereas a person who merely abstains from doing in- 
jury to another out of fear of the law, of the loss of reputation, 
nonor, or gain, thus out of regard to self and the world, only 
practises such abstinence from a natural ground, and is led by 
himself. The life of this person is natural in its quality ; but 
that of the former is spiritual. The man whose moral life is ol 
a spiritual quality, has in himself heaven : but the man whoso 
moral life is only of a natural quality, has not. The reason is, 
because heaven enters by influx from above, and opens man's 
interiors, and then, through his interiors, flows into his exteriors ; 
whereas the world enters by influx from below, and opens man's 
exteriors, but not his interiors : for there cannot be any influx 
from the natural world into the spiritual, but only from the 
spiritual world into the natural ; and consequently, if, when the 
world flows into the exteriors, heaven is not received at the same 
time, the interiors are closed. From these observations maybe 
seen, who the persons are that receive heaven in themselves, and 
who they are that do not. Heaven, however, in one person, is 
not the same in quality as it is in another. It differs in every one 
according to his affection of good, and of truth thence derived. 
All who cherish the affection of good out of regard to the Divine 
Being, love Divine Truth ; for good and truth mutually love each 
other, and desire to be in conjunction :(^) on which account the 
Gentiles, although they are not possessed of genuine truths while 
in the world, receive them in the other life, by virtue of the love 
in which they are grounded. 

320. There was a certain spirit from among the Gentiles, who, 
when in the world, had lived in the good of charity according to 
his religious persuasion, who happened to hear some Christian 
spirits disputing about points of belief: for spirits reason with 
one another much more fully and acutely than men do, especially 

(') That between good and truth there is the resemblance of marriage, nn. 1904, 2173, 
2508. That in good and trutla there is a perpetual tendency to conjunction, and that 
good desires truth, and to be cor joined with it, nn. 9206, 9207, 9495. In what mannef 
the conjunction of good and truth is effected, and in whom, nn. 3834, 3843, 409G, 4()97 
4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623—7627, 9258. 

162 



HEAVEN. 321, 322 

on subjects relating to good and truth. He much wondered at 
their contending so about them, observing, that he did not like 
to hear such disputes, for they were reasoning from appearances 
and Mlacies. He instructed them by saying. If I am a good 
man, I am able to determine what sentiments are true from good 
itself : and such truths as I am not acquainted with, I have a 
capacity for receiving. 

321. I have been instructed, by many examples, that the Gen- 
tiles who have passed a moral life, have lived in obedience and 
subordination, and in mutual charity according to their religious 
persuasion, and who thence have acquired some degree of con- 
science, are accepted in the other life, and are there instructed 
by the angels, with sedulous care, in the goods and truths of 
faith : and that, while under instruction, they behave themselves 
modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and easily receive truths, and 
have them incorporated in their minds : for they have not formed 
for themselves any principles of falsity opposed to the truths of 
faith, which would need to be first removed ; much less, any 
scandalous notions against the Lord, as many Christians have, 
who cherish no other idea of Him than that of a common man. 
'Not so the Gentiles ; for when they hear that God was made 
man, and thus was manifested in the world, they immediately 
acknowledge it, and adore the Lord, observing, that God as- 
suredly had manifested Himself, because He is the God of 
heaven and earth, and the human race is His work.f ) It is, 
indeed, a divine truth, that without the Lord there can be no 
salvation : but the w^ ay in which that truth is to be understood, 
is this : that there can be no salvation except from the Lord. 
There are, in the universe, numerous earths, and all full of in- 
habitants : scarcely any of them know that the Lord assumed 
Humanity in our planet ; but nevertheless, as they adore the 
Divine Being under a Human Form, they are accepted and led 
by the Lord. (On which subject, see the little work. On the 
Earths in the U'niverse.) 

322. Among Gentiles, as among Christians, there are both 
wise and simple; and that I might be made acquainted with 
the character of both, it was granted me to converse wath both, 
sometimes for hours and days together. There are, however, 
no such wise men at the present day as existed in ancient times, 

(') The difference between the good in which the Gentiles are principled, and that 
in which Christians are principled, nn. 4189, 4197. Of the truths appertainincr to the 
Qcntiles, nn. 3'263, 3778, 4190. That the interiors cannot be so closed with the Gentiles, 
a.s with Christians, n. 9256. That neither can so thick a cloud exist with the Gentiles, 
who live according to their rehgious principles in mutual charity, as with the Chi'istians 
who live in no charity, the reasons, nn. 1059, 9256, That the Gentiles cannot profane 
the holy things of the church like Christians, because they are not acquainted with 
them, nn. 1327, 1328, 2051. That they are afraid of Christians on account of their lives, 
nn. 2596, 2597. That those who have lived well, according to their religious principles, 
are instructed by the angels, and easily receive the truths of faith, and acknowledge 
the Lord, nn. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600, 2601, 2603, 2861, 2863, 3263. 

163 



322, 323 HEAVEN. 

more particularly in the Ancient Church, which extended over 
a great part of the Asiatic world, whence religion emanated, 
and was diffused through many Gentile nations. That I might 
know^ of what quality they were, it was granted me to converse 
with some of them familiarly. 

I found myself in company with a person, who had formerly 
been one of those, who possessed superior wisdom, and was also, 
on that account, known in the literary world. I conversed with 
him on various subjects; and it was given me to believe that 
he was Cicero. As I knew that he had been a wise man, my 
discourse wdth him was respecting wisdom, intelligence, order, 
the Word, and finally, the Lord. Kespecting wisdom, he ob- 
served, that there is no wisdom, but such as relates to life ; and 
that nothing else can deserve the name. Respecting intelli- 
gence, that it proceeds from the former. Respecting order, 
that it comes from the Supreme God ; and that to live in that 
order, is to be wise and intelligent. As to the Word, when I 
read to him a passage from the prophets, he was very much de- 
lighted, especially on finding that every individual name and 
word signified interior things ; and he was exceedingl}^ surprised, 
that the learned of the present day should not take pleasure in 
such a study. I manifestly perceived that the interiors of his 
thought or mind were open. He said that he could not attend 
longer, because he had a perception of something more holy 
than he could bear, — so intertorly was he afiected. Our conver- 
sation at length turned on the subject of the Lord ; when I re- 
marked, that he was born a man, but was conceived of God : 
that he put off the maternal humanity and put on the Divine 
Humanity ; and that it is He who governs the universe. To 
these observations he replied, that he knew many things respect- 
ing the Lord, and that he apprehended, in his own way, that, 
if the human race was to be saved, it was impossible but that 
what I had stated must be the truth. Certain wicked Chris- 
tians, however, injected various scandalous suggestions ; but to 
these he paid no attention, observing, that their conduct was 
not to be w^ondered at, since, in the life of the bod}^, they had 
imbibed unbecoming notions on those subjects, and that, before 
these were removed, they could not admit the considerationt! 
which confirm the truth, as those can who are ignorant of it 
altogether. 

323. It has also been granted me to converse with some othei's 
who lived in ancient times, and who then belonged to tlie class 
of those 'vho were eminent for wisdom. They at first ap- 
peared in front at some distance. From that station they 
were able to perceive the interiors of my thoughts, and thus 
fully to discern many things belonging to them ; and from 
one idea of thought they were able to discern the whole series 
to which it belonged, and to fill it with delightful conceptions 

164: 



HEAVEN. 323, 324 

of wisilom, combined wltli beautiful representations. I thence 
perceived, that they were of the class of such as were eminent 
for wisdom ; and I was told, that they were some of the ancients. 
They then drew nearer; and on my reading a passage of the 
Word, thqy were exceedingly delighted. The nature of their 
delight and pleasure was perceived by me, and it chiefly arose 
from the circumstance, that all they heard from the Word, even 
to the most minute particular, was representative and significa- 
tive of things celestial and spiritual. They stated, that in their 
days, when they lived in the world, their mode of thinking and 
speaking, and of writing, also, was of this kind, and that to ren- 
der it such was the aim of their wisdom. 

324. But as to the Gentiles of the present day, they are not 
of this wise character, but many of them are simple-hearted per- 
sons. Such of them, however, as have lived in mutual charity 
receive wisdom in the other life ; respecting whom it may be 
proper to mention one or two instances. 

Once when I was reading chapters xvii. and xviii. of Judges, 
respecting Micah, whose graven image, teraphim, and Levite, 
were taken from him by the sons of Dan, there was present a 
spirit from among the Grentiles, who, when he lived in the body, 
had worshipped a graven image. On listening attentively to 
the relation of what was done to Micah, and of the grief that he 
felt for the loss of his graven image, he, also, was seized with 
grief, and was affected by it to such a degree, that he scarcely 
knew, through the interior pain that he experienced, what he 
was thinking of. His grief was perceived by me ; and it was 
perceived at the same time, that there was innocence in all his 
affections. Some Christian spirits were present, who observ^ed 
tlie transaction, and wondered that the worshipper of a graven 
image could be moved with so great an affection of compassion 
and innocence. Certain good spirits afterwards entered into 
conversation with him ; who remarked, that a graven image 
ought not to be worshijDped, and that, as a human being, he was 
able to understand that such is the truth ; but that, independ- 
ently of his graven image, he ought to think of God the Creator 
and Governor of the universe, including both heaven and earth ; 
and that that God is the Lord. AYhen this was said to him, I 
was enabled to perceive the interior affection of his adoration, 
which was communicated to me, and was of a far more holy 
character than prevails among Christians. It may hence be 
evident, that the Gentiles enter heaven far more easily than the 
Christians of the present day : according to these words of the 
Lord in Luke : '^And they shall come from the east and from 
the west^ and from the north and from the soutK and shall lie 
do'ton in the fcingdom of God : and^ behold^ there are last who 
shall he first^ and there are first loho shall he lastP — (Ch. xiii. 
29, 30.) For in the state in which he then was, he was in a 

165 



324, 325 HEAVEN. 

capacity for imbibing all the doctrines of faith, and for receiv- 
ing them with interior affection : he possessed the compassion 
which is an attribute of love, and in his ignorance was included 
innocence; and where these are present, all the doctrines of 
faith are received as if spontaneously, and their reception is ac- 
companied with joy. He was afterwards admitted among the 
angels. 

325. One morning there was heard at a distance a certain 
company singing in concert, and from the attendant representa- 
tions it was made known to me that they consisted of natives of 
China ; for they presented the figure of a he-goat clothed with 
wool, and of a cake made of millet, and an ebony spoon, to- 
gether with the idea of a floating city. They expressed a desire 
to come nearer to me ; and when they did so, they said that 
they wished to be with me alone, that they might unbosom their 
thoughts. But they were told that they were not alone, and 
that others were present who were displeased at their wishing 
to be alone, although they were strangers. On perceiving their 
displeasure, they began to consider, whether they had trespassed 
against their neighbor, and whether they had claimed any 
thing for themselves which was the property of others (for all 
thoughts in the other life are communicated to those around). 
It was given me to perceiv^e the agitation of their minds : it in- 
cluded an acknowledgment that they might possibly have done 
them injury, with shame on that account, combined with a mix- 
ture of otter commendable affections ; whence it was known 
that they were, possessed of charity. I soon afterwards entered 
into conversation with tliem, and at last spoke with them re- 
specting the Lord. When I called him Christ, I perceived 
in them a degree of repugnance ; but the reason of this was 
discovered, and it was found that they had brought it with 
them out of the world, because they knew that Christians led 
worse lives than they did, and that they were void of charity. 
But when I simply called him the Lord, they exhibited an in- 
terior emotion. They were afterwards informed by angels, that 
the Christian doctrine insists on love and charity more than any 
other in the world ; but that those who live according to it are 
lew. There are some Gentiles, who, when they lived in the 
world, knew, by conversation and report, that Christians lead 
wicked lives, practising adultery, hatred, contention, drunken- 
ness, and other crimes, which these Gentiles abhorred, as being 
contrary to their religious principles. These, in the other life, 
are more timid than others in receiving the truths of faith. 
They are instructed, however, by the angels, that the Christian 
doctrine, and the true Christian faith, teach quite different con- 
duct ; but that the professors of Christianity live far less accord- 
ing to their doctrine than is usual with Gentiles. When they 
perceive the correctness of these statements, they receive the 
166 



UEAYEN, 326, 327 

truths of faith, and worship the Lord ; but they are longer be- 
fore they do so than others. 

326. It is customary for the Gentiles who have adored some 
god under the form of an image or statue, or have worshipped 
a graven idol, to be introduced, on entering the other life, to 
certain spirits who are substituted in the place of their gods or 
idols ; which is done for the purpose of divesting them of their 
phantasies ; and when they have remained with those spirits for 
some days, they are withdrawn. Those, also, who have wor- 
shipped deceased men, are sometimes introduced to the objects 
of their veneration, or to others who personate them : thus 
many of the Je^Vs are introduced to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, 
and David : but when they find that human nature, in them, is 
the same as in others, and that they can give them no help, 
they are ashamed, and are transferred to their own place ac- 
cording to their life. Of all the Gentiles, the Africans are most 
esteemed in heaven ; for they receive the goods and truths of 
heaven more easily than others. They particularly desire to 
be called obedient, but not faithful : Christians, they say, may 
be called faithful, because they possess the doctrine of faith; but 
themselves not so, unless they receive that doctrine, or, as they 
express themselves, are able to receive it. 

327. I have conversed wdth some who belonged to the Ancient 
Church, or the church which existed after the flood, and which 
then extended through many kingdoms, as Assyria, Mesopo- 
tamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Arabia, Lybia, Egypt, Philistia including 
Tyre and Sidon, and the Land of Canaan on both sides of Jor- 
dan.('*) Those with whom I conversed, while in the world, 
had i^ossessed knowledge respecting the Lord as being to come, 
and had been instructed in the goods of faith, but had never- 
theless fallen away, and had become idolaters. They w^ere in 
front towards the left, in a dark place, and in a state of misery. 
Their speech was in sound like a pipe having but one note, and 
was almost destitute of rational thought. They said that they 
had been in that place for many ages, and that they are occa- 
sionally taken out of it to act as servants to others for the per- 
formance of some uses of a mean description. From observing 

(*) That the first and most aneieut church on this earth was that which, is described 
iu the first chapters of Genesis ; and that that church, above all others, was a celestial 
church, nn. 607, 895, 920, 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 2896, 4493, 8891, 9942, 10,545. What 
is the quality of the members of tliat church in heaven, nu. 1114—1125. That there 
were various churches after the flood, wJiich are called ancient churches, concerning 
whicli, nn. 1125, 1126, 1127, 1327, 10,355. What was the quality of the members of 
the ancient churcli, nn. 607, 895. That the ancient churches were representative 
churches, nn. 519, 521, 2S96. That the ancient church had a Word, but tlmt it is lost, 
n. 2897. What was the quality of the ancient church when it began to decline, n. 1128. 
The ditference between the niost ancient church and the ancient one, nn, 597, 607, 64u, 
641, 765, 784, 895, 4493. Tluit the statutes, tlie judgments, and the laws, which were 
commanded in the Jewish church, were in part like those which were in the ancient 
church, nn. 42S8, 4449, 10,149. That the Lor I was the God of the most ancient church. 
and likewise of the ancient, and that Ke was ^alled Jehovah, nn. 1348, 6846. 

167 



32S, 329 HEAVEN. 

tlie state of these, I was led to tliiiik uf that of many Christians, 
who, thouga not idolaters outwardly, are such inwardly, being- 
worshippers of self and the world, and denying the Lord in 
their hearts ; and to consider what sort of lot awaits them in the 
other life. 

328. That the Lord's church is sj^read through the whole ter- 
restrial globe, consequently, is universal, and that it includes all 
who have lived in the good of charity according to their religious 
belief; and also, that the church that is in possession of the Word, 
by means of which the Lord is known, is, to those who live be- 
yond its limits, as the heart and lungs in man, from which all 
the viscera and members of the body derive life, with variety 
according to their forms, situations, and combinations, may be 
seen above, n. 308. 



OF INFAOTTS OR LITTLE CHILDREN IN HEAVEN. 

329. It is the belief of some, that only those infants or little 
children that are born in the church go to heaven, but not those 
who are born out of it : and the reason which they assign is, 
that children born in the church are baptized, and are initiated 
by baptism into the faith of the church. But such pei*sons are 
not aware, that heaven is not imparted to any one by baptism, 
nor faith either: for baptism is only instituted as a sign and 
memorial that man is to be reg^enerated, and that it is possible 
for those to be regenerated who are born in the church, since the 
church possesses the Word, in which are contained the divine 
truths by means of which regeneration is eifected, and in the 
church the Lord is known, by whom it is accompli shed.(*) Be 
it known, therefore, that every infant or little cliild, let him be 
born where he may, whether in the church or out of it, whether 
of pious or of wicked parents, is received when he dies by the 
Lord, and is educated in heaven ; where he is instructed accord- 
ing to Divine Order, and is imbued with aifeetions of good, and, 
through them, with knowledge of truth ; and that afterwards, as 
he is perfected in intelligence and wisdom, he is introduced into 
heaven, and becomes an angel. Every person who thinks from 
reason may be aware, that no one is born for hell, but all for 
heaven, and that if a man goes to hell the blame is his own, but 
that no blame can attach to infants or little children. 

(') Tha^. baptism signifies regeneration from the Lord bv the truths of faith derived 
from the W^ord, nn.4255, 5120, 9088, 10,28'j, 10,386, 10,3S7, 10,388, 10,392. Tliat baptism 
'is a sign tnat man belongs to tl)e cluirch where the Lord is aclcnowiedged, from vvhom 
regeneration i'^ derived ; and where the Word exists, containing the truths of faith, by 
which regeneration is effected, nn. 10,386, 10,387, 10,388. That baptism does not eoiifet 
faith nor f;alvation, but that it testifies that these who are regenerated will receive them, 
a 10,391. 
1()3 



HEAVEN. 330—332 

330. ^Ylien infants depart this life, they are still infants in 
the other, having a similar infantile mind, a similar innocence 
in ignorance, and a similar tenderness in all respects. They are 
only in the lirst initiatory state for enabling them to become an 
gels : for infants are not angels already, but become so. Every 
one who departs out of this world resuscitates in a state of life 
similar to that in which he was before, an infant in the state of 
infancy, a boy in the state of boyhood, and a youth, man, and 
old man, in the state of youth, manhood, and old age, respec- 
tively : but the state of every one is afterwards changed. The 
state of infants, however, excels that of the other ages in this 
respect, that they are in a state of innocence, and that evil is 
not yet rooted in them by actual life ; and such is the nature of 
innocence, that all things belonging to heaven can be implanted 
in it ; for innocence is the receptacle of the truth of faith and of 
the good of love. 

331. The state of infants in the other life far surpasses that of 
infants in the world, because they are not invested wath a terres- 
trial body, but with one like those of the angels. The terrestrial 
body in itself is heavj^ or dull. It does not receive its first sensa- 
tions and first motions from the interior or spiritual world, but 
from the exteiior or natural ; on which account, infants in the 
world must learn to w^alk, to use their limbs, and to talk ; and 
even the senses, as those of sight and hearing, must be opened 
in them by use. IS^ot so in the other life. There, being spirits, 
they immediately begin to act according to their interiors. They 
ivalk without pi-evious practice, and talk with the same readiness ; 
only they speak, at first, from common or general aff"ections, not 
yet perfectly distinguished into ideas of thought : but tliey are 
speedily initiated into these also ; and the reason that this is so 
easily efiected is, because their exteriors are homogeneous to 
their interiors. (That the speech of angels flows from afi'ections 
variegated by ideas of thought, so that their discourse is in per- 
fect conformity with their thoughts from aflfection, may be seen 
above, nn. 234 — 245.) 

332. As soon as infants are resuscitated, which takes place 
immediately after their decease, they are carried up into heaven, 
and are committed to the care of angels of the female sex, who, 
in the life of the body, had been influenced by a tender love for 
little children, and, at the same time, by love for God. As these 
angels had, while in the world, loved all infants with a tenderness 
like that of their mothers, they receive the little ones committed 
to their charge as if they were their own ; and the infants, on 
their part, from an inherent inclination, love them in return as 
theii" mothers. Every one has as manj^ infants under her care, 
as, from spiritual maternal love, she desires. This heaven ap- 
pears in front, over against the foreiiead, directly in the line or 
radius in wiiich angeis look to the Lord; it is there situated, 

169 



333 335 HEAYEN. 

because all infants are under the immediate auspices of the Lord. 
Thev also receive an influx from the heaven of innocence, which 
\% the third heaven. 

333. Infants differ in their genius ; some being of the genius 
by which the spiritual angels are distinguished, and some of the 
genius by which the celestial angels are distinguished. The 
infants who are of the celestial genius appear on the right in 
that heaven, and those who are of the spiritual genius on the 
left. In the Grand Man, which is heaven, all infants are in the 
province of the eyes, those who are of the spiritual genius being 
in the province of the left eye, and those who are of the celestial 
genius in ttie province of the right ; the reason of which is, be- 
cause the Lord appears to the angels who are in the spiritual 
kingdom before the left eye, and to those who are in the celestial 
kingdom before the right eye. (See above, n. 118.) From the 
circumstance, that, in the Grand Man or heaven, infants are in 
the province of the eyes, it also is evident, that they ai^ under 
the immediate view and auspices of the Lord. 

331. In what manner infants are educated in heaven, shall 
also be briefly stated. They learn of their governess to talk. 
Their first speech is only a sound expressive of affection ; but 
this becomes by degrees more distinct, as ideas of thought enter 
into it; for ideas of thought derived from their affections consti- 
tute all the speech of angels. (On which subject, see its proper 
Section above, nn. 231 — 245.) Into their affections, which all 
proceed from innocence, are first insinuated such things as ap- 
pear before their eyes, and are of a delightful nature ; and as 
these are from a spiritual origin, such things as belong to heaven 
flow into them at the same time ; by which the interiors of the 
children are oj^ened, and they thus are continually advanced in 
perfection. After this first period is completed, they are trans- 
ferred to another heaven, where they are instructed by masters. 
And so they advance. 

335. Infants are chiefly instructed by representatives suited 
to their respective genius; and these are so beautiful, and at 
the same time so full of wisdom from an interior ground, as to 
surpass belief. Thus is intelligence insinuated into them by de- 
grees, such as derives its life from good. Two representatives, 
which it w^as granted me to behold, I am at liberty to mention ; 
from which a conclusion may be drawn respecting the others. 
They first represented the Lord ascending out of the sepulchre, 
and at the same time the union of his Humanity with his Divin- 
ity ; which was performed in so wise a manner as to surpass all 
the wisdom of men, though in a manner innocently infantile at 
the same time. They also presented an idea of a sepulchre, but 
not, simultaneously, an idea of the Lord, except so remotely, 
that it was scarcely to be perceived that it was the Lord, othei^ 
wise than, as it were, afar off; because the idea of a sepulchre 
170 



HEAVEN. 336, 337 

includes sometliing funereal, which thev thus removed. They 
afterwards cautiously admitted into the sepulchre a sort of at- 
mospheric production, but appearing like a subtile aqueous sub- 
Btance ; by which they represented, still with a decent removal 
of every thing unbecoming, spiritual life in baptism. I after- 
wards saw represented by them the Lord's descent to them that 
were in prison, and his ascent with them to heaven, all performed 
with incomparable prudence and piety. What was truly infan- 
tile, they let down soft, tender, and almost invisible threads, to 
lift up the Lord with in his ascent. Through all the operation, 
they were possessed by a holy fear, lest the least part of the 
representation should border upon any thing that did not include 
a spiritual and celestial essence. Kot to- mention other repre- 
sentatives in use among them, and by which, as by sports suited 
to the minds of little children, they are conducted into the 
knowledges of truth and the affections of good. 

336. The nature of their tender intellect, has also been shown 
me. When I was praying in the words of the Lord's Prayer, 
and they entered at the time into the ideas of my thought by 
an intliix from their intellectual faculty, it was perceptible that 
their intiux was so tender and soft as almost to be that of affec- 
tion alone ; and it was at the same time observable, that their 
intellectual faculty was open even from the Lord ; for what 
flowed from them was as if it flowed through them. The Lord, 
also, flows most especially into the ideas of infants from inmost 
principles, for nothing has closed their ideas, as is the case with 
adults ; no principles of falsity exist to shut their minds against 
the intelligence of truth, nor is there the life of evil to shut them 
against the reception of good, and thus against the reception of 
wisdom. 

From these facts it may be evident, that infants do not enter 
upon the angelic state immediately after death, but that they 
are introduced into it successively by means of the knowledges 
of good and of truth ; and that this is effected according to all 
heavenly order. For the most minute particulars of their genius 
are known to the Lord ; wherefore, according to all, even the 
most particular, impulses of their inclination, they are led to 
receive the truths of good, and the goods of truth. 

337. How all things are insinuated into them by such de- 
lightful and agreeable means as are suitable to their genius, was 
likewise shown me. It was granted to me to see little children 
mosi elegantly clothed, having about their breasts wreaths of 
flowers shining with the most agreeable and heavenly colors, and 
others about their tender arms. Once, also, I saw some little 
children with their governesses, in company with some maidens, 
in a paradisiacal garden most beautifully adorned, not so much 
by the trees that grew in it, as by espaliers as of laurel, and thus 
by porticoes, with paths leading towards its interior recesses. 

171 



338—340 HEAVEN. 

The children were clothed in the manner mentioned above ; and 
upon their approach, the clusters of flowers that overshadowed 
the entrance beamed forth a cheerful brightness. It may hence 
appear what delights attend them ; and also, that they are in- 
troduced, by means of objects and scenes most agreeable and 
delightfal, into the goods of innocence and charity ; which goods 
are continually insinuated by those delightful and agreeable ob- 
jects by the Lord. 

338. By a mode of communication usual in the other life, it 
has been shown me what sort of ideas little children have when 
they behold any objects. All, even to the most minute, were as 
if they were alive ; whence, in all the minutiae of their ideas of 
thought, life is included. It was also perceived by me, that little 
children in the world have ideas nearly similar when engaged 
in their playfal amusements ; for they do not yet possess reflec- 
tion, like that of adults, to show them w^hat is inanimate. 

3P>0. It has been stated above, that infants are either of the 
celestial or of the spiritual genius. The distinction between 
them is very obviouh.. Those who are of the celestial genius 
think, speak, and act, with more softness than those of the spir- 
itual genius, so that scarcely any thing appears but something 
ol a flowing character, derived from the love of good directed to 
the Lord, and towards other little children. Those of the spirit- 
ual genius, on the other hand, do not think, speak, and act, with 
such softness, but something of a fluttering and vibratory char- 
acter, so to speak, manifests itself in every thing that they say 
and do. It also is apparent from the indignation which they 
exhibit ; and by other signs. 

340. Many may imagine, that infants remain such in heaven, 
and exist as infants among the aogels. Those who are ignorant 
what an angel is, may be confirmed in this opinion from the 
images sometimes seen in churches, in which angels are repre- 
sented as little children. But the real fact is quite difierent. 
Intelligence and wisdom are the attributes which constitute an 
angel ; and so long as infants are not yet possessed of these, 
they are, indeed, associated with angels, but they are not angels 
themselves. They first become angels, when they become intel- 
ligent and wise ; and, what I was surprised at observing, they 
then no longer appear as children, but as adult persons ; for 
they then are no longer of an infantile genius, but of the more 
adult genius belonging to angels. This maturity is inherent in 
intelligence and wisdom themselves. The reason that infants, as 
they are perfected in intelligence and wisdom, appear of mure 
adult stature, thus as youths and young men, is, because intel- 
ligence and wisdom are real spiritual nourishment(-) ; thus, the 

(') That spiritual food is science, intelligence, and wisdom, thus the good and truth 
from which those thinjors are derived, nn. '3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 
5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562, 9003. Hence, that food, in a spiritual sense, is everv 
khin^ which comes forth from the mouth of the Lovd, n. 681. Thut bread signiftes m. 

172 



HEAVEN. SiO, 341 

same things as nourisli their minds, nourish also tlieir bodies : 
which is the result of correspondence, the form of the l)odj being 
nothing but the external form of the interiors. It is to be ob- 
served, that infants who grow up in heaven, do not advance 
beyond the iirst period of juvenile manhood, in which they 
remain to eternity. That I might know this fact with certainty, 
it has been granted to me to converse with some who had been 
educated as infants in heaven, and had there grown up : also, 
with some when they were infants, and afterwards with tlie same 
when they had become young men ; and I heard from their own 
lips what had been the course of their life from one age to the 
other. 

341. That innocence is the receptacle of all things constituent 
of heaven, and thus that the innocence of infants is a plane for 
all the affections of good and truth, may be evident from what 
has been stated above (nn. 276 — 283) respecting the innocence 
of the angels in heaven. It was there shown, that innocence 
consists in being willing to be led by the Lord and not by self ; 
consequently, that man is in the enjoyment of innocence, just 
in proportion as he is ]*emoved from his jprojprium : and just in 
proportion as any one is I'emoved from his own jprajprium^ he 
is in the Lord's Proj^rium^ which is what is called the Lord's 
righteousness and merit. But the innocence of infants is not 
genuine innocence, because, as yet, it is without wisdom. Gen- 
uine innocence is wisdom ; for in proportion as a person is wise, 
he loves to be led by the Lord ; or, what amounts to the same, 
in proportion as any person is led by the Lord, he truly is wise. 
Infants, therefore, are led from external innocence, which is what 
they possess at first, and which is called the innocence of infancy, 
to internal innocence, which is the innocence of wisdom. This 
wisdom is the end of all their instruction and advancement ; 
wherefore, when they arrive at the innocence of wisdom, the 
innocence of infancy, which had served them in the mean time 
as a plane, is conjoined to them. The nature of the innocence 
of infants was represented to me, by something that appeared as 
of wood, nearly destitute of life, but which is animated as the 
children are perfected by knowledges of truth and affections of 
good. The nature of genuine innocence was afterwards repre- 
sented by a most beautiful infant, full of life, and naked. For 
those eminently innocent ones who inhabit the inmost heaven, 
and thus are nearest to the Lord, appear to the sight of the other 
angels just like infants, and some of them naked, because inno- 
cence is represented by the nakedness which does not inspire 
shame, as we read of the first man and his wife in paradise (Gen. 
ii. 25) ; wherefore, also, when they fell from their state of inno- 

food in general, therefore it signifies every good, celestial and spiritual, nn. 276, 680. 
2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410. The reason is, because those things nourish the mini, 
whioli belongs to the internal man, nn, 4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8410. 

173 



341, 342 HEAVEN. 

cence, they blushed for their nakedness, and hid themselves. 
(Ch. ill. Y, 10, 11.) In one word : the wiser angels are, the more 
innocent they are ; and the more innocent they are, the more 
tliey appear to themselves as little children. It is on this ac- 
count, that infancy, in the Word, signifies innocence. (See 
above, n. 278.) 

342. I have conversed with angels respecting infants, inquiring 
whether they were pure from evils, because they have no actual 
evil, like adults. But I was informed, that they are equally the 
subjects of evil(^) ; but that they, like all the angels, are withheld 
from evil, and held in good, by the Lord ; and that this is done 
60 effectually, that it appears to them as if they were in good of 
themselves. Lest, therefore, infants who have grown up in heav- 
en should entertain a false opinion of themselves, imagining that 
the good which attaches to them is self-derived, and is not com- 
municated from the Lord, they sometimes are let into the evils 
which they have received hereditarily, and are left in them, till 
they know, acknowledge, and believe, the truth on the subject. 
There was a spirit, the son of a certain king, who had died when 
an infant, and had grown up in heaven, who entertained the 
opinion just mentioned. He was therefore let into the life of 
evils that was innate in him; when I perceived, by the sphere 
of his life, that he had a disposition to exercise command over 
others, and that he regarded adulteries as of no account ; these 
being evils that he derived hereditarily from his parents : but 
after he was brought to the acknowledgment that he was of 
such a nature, he was again taken up among the angels with 
whom he was living before. ISTo one, in the other life, ever 
suffers punishment for hereditary evil, because this is not his 
own, and thus it is by no fault of his own that he is of such a 
nature; but what he is punished for is actual evil, which is his 
own; thus he suffers punishment for so much of his hereditary 
evil as he has made his own by actual life. When infants wlio 
have grown up in heaven are let into the state of their hereditary 
evil, it is not that they may be punished for it, but that they may 
learn that, of themselves, thej are nothing but evil, and that they 
are withdrawn from the hell which adheres to them, and taken to 

(^) Tlmt all iriCu whatsoever are bora into evils of every kind, insomuch that their 
oroprium is nothing but evil, nn. 210, 215, 731, 874, 875, 876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 
3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286, 10,732. That man, therefore, must be re- 
born, that id, regenerated, n, 3701. That the hereditary evil of man consists in lovincr 
himself above God, and the world above heaven, and in making no account of his 
neighbor in comparison with himself, except only for the sake of himself, thus in re- 
garding himself alone; so that it consists in the love of self and of the world, ur,. 694, 
731, 4317, 5660. That from the love of self and of the world, when those loves pre- 
dominate, come all evils, nn. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, (7480,) 7488, 
8318, 9335, 9348, 10,u38, 10,742, Which evils are contempt of others, enmitv, hatred, 
revenge, erueltv, deceit, m\. 6667, 7372, 7373, 7374, 9348, 10,038, 10,742. And that from 
these evils comes all that is false, nn. 1047, 10,288, 10,284, 10,286. That those .oves rash 
JEbrward so far as the reins are given them, and that the love of self aspires even to the 
throne of God, nn, 7375, 8678. 

174 



HEAVEN. 3^3—345 

heaven, by the mercy of the Lord ; and that they have a place 
in heaven, not by their own merit, but by the Lord's bounty ; 
for which reason, they should not boast of themselves to others 
on account of the good which is attached to them, since to do so 
were as contrary to the good of mutual love as it is to the truth 
of faith. 

3i3. Many times, when a number of infants have been present 
with me in choirs, whilst they were still in quite an infantile 
state, I heard from them a sound as of something tender and 
unarranged, so that they did not yet act as one, as they do after- 
wards when in a more adult state : and, what surprised me, the 
spirits present with me could not refrain from inciting them to 
speak. A desire of this kind is innate in spirits. But jt was 
alwjiys observable, that the infants manifested repugnance, being 
not williug to s]3eak when thus incited. I have often perceived 
their refusal and repugnance, which were attended with a certain 
species of indignation ; and when some liberty of speaking was 
given them, they said no more than that it was not so. I was 
informed, that the temptation of little children is of this kind, 
and that it is permitted in order that they may learn, not only 
to resist whp.t is false and evil, but also not to think, speak, and 
act, from another, and, consequently, not to allow themselves to 
be led by any other than the Lord alone. 

344. From what has been adduced may be seen, the nature 
of the education of infants in heaven ; namely, that they are 
introduced by the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good 
into the angelic life, which consists in love to the Lord and 
mutual love, both including innocence. But how contrary is 
the education of children, as practised by many on earth, may 
appear from this example. Being in the streets of a great city, 
I saw some little boys fighting : a crowd gathered round, that 
enjoyed the sight with great pleasure ; .and I was informed that 
the parents themselves excited their little offspring to engage 
in such battles. The good spirits and angels who beheld the 
transaction through my eyes, were so shocked at it, that I could 
perceive their horror, especially at the circumstance, that parents 
should stir up their children to such practices. They said, that 
parents thus extinguish, in earliest years, all the mutual love, 
and all the innocence, which are infused into little children by 
the Lord, and initiate them into hatred and revenge ; conse- 
quently, that they thus studiously exclude their children from 
heaven, where nothing prevails but mutual love. Let those 
parents, therefore, who wish well to their children, beware of 
such practices. 

345. The nature of the difference between those who die when 
infants, and those who die in adult age, shall also be stated. 
They who die in adult age, have, and carry with thom, a plane 
acquired from the terrestrial and material world. This plane 

A75 



346, 3 17 HEAVEN. 

consists of their memory, and its corporeal-natural affection. 
This plane, after death, is fixed, and then remains quiescent; 
but it still serves as an ultimate plane for their thought, for the 
thought flows into it. It hence results, that according to the 
quality of that plane, and according to the manner in which the 
rational mind corresponds with its contents, is the quality of 
the man after death. But infants who have died such, and have 
been educated in heaven, have not such a plane, but instead of 
it, a spiritual-natural one ; because they derive nothing from the 
material world and the terrestrial body, wherefore they cannot 
be in such gross aifections and thence in such gross thoughts ; 
for they derive all from heaven. Besides, infants are not aware 
that tliey w^ere born in the world, but suppose themselves to have 
been born in heaven; consequently, they do not know what any 
birth is but the spiritual birth, which is effected by knowledges 
of good and truth, and by intelligence and wisdom, by virtue of 
which it is that a man is a man ; and as these are from the 
Lord, they believe, and love to believe, that they are the chil- 
dren of the Lord Himself. But, notwithstanding, the state of 
men who grow up on earth may become equally perfect with 
the state of infants who grow up in heaven, provided they re- 
move corporeal and earthly loves, which are those of self and 
the world, and receive spiritual loves in their place. 



OF THE WISE AND THE SIMPLE m HEAVEN. 

34:6. It is generally believed, that the wise will enjoy glory 
and eminence in heaven beyond what falls to the lot of the 
simple, because it is said- in Daniel, ''They that are [wise, more 
literally] intelligent shall shine as the hrightness of the firma- 
ment^ and they that turn many to righteousness^ as the stars^for 
ever and ever^ — (Ch. xii. 3.) But few are aw^are who are here 
meant by the intelligent, and by those who turn many to right- 
eousness. It is commonly supposed, that those who are called 
men of erudition and learning are the persons alluded to, 
especially such as have been teachers in the church, and have 
excelled others in doctrine and preaching ; and, more especially 
still, those among them who have converted many to the faith. 
All such as these are believed, in the world, to be the intelligent : 
but the above words relate to those who are regarded as intelli- 
gent in heaven ; and those just mentioned do not belong to the 
number, unless their intelligence be heavenly intelligence ; the 
nature of which shall be here explained. 

347. Heavenly intelligence is interior intelligence, arising 
from the love of truth, unconnected with any regard either to 
176 



HEAVEN. 347 

glory ill tlie world or to glory in heaven, but only to truth itself 
for its own sake, with which they are attected and delighted in 
their inmost soul. They who are atiected and delighted with 
truth itself, are also affected and delighted with the light of 
heaven ; and they who are affected and delighted with the light 
of heaven, are likewise affected and delighted with the Divine 
Truth, yea, with the Lord himself: for the light of heaven is 
the Divine Truth, and the Divine Truth is the Lord in heaven. 
(See above, nn. 126 — 140.) This light only enters into the in- 
teriors of the mind, which are formed for its reception ; and as 
it enters, it also affects them, and imparts delight ; for whatever 
enters by influx from heaven, and is received, carries in its 
bosom enjoyment and pleasure. From this source is the gen- 
uine affection of truth, which is the affection of truth for its own 
sake. Those who are in possession of this affection, or, what 
amounts to the same, of this love, are in the possession of hea- 
venly intelligence, and shine, in heaven, as with the brightness 
of the firmament. The reason that they so shine is, because 
the Divine Truth, wherever it exists in heaven, shines or gives 
light (see above, n. 132) ; and the firmament of heaven signifies, 
by correspondence, that interior intellectual principle, as exist- 
ing both with angels and with men, that is in the light of 
heaven. But those who cherish the affection of truth either 
w^th a view to glory in the world or to glory in heaven, cannot 
shine in heaven, because they are not delighted and afiected 
with the light of heaven, but only with the light of the world, 
which, in heaven, is mere darkness :(^) for their own glory is 
what is predominant in their minds, this being the end which 
they have in view ; and when his own glory is the end in view, 
the man has respect, in the first place, to himself, and only 
regards the truths which tend to promote his glory as means to 
that end, and as servants for his use. For whoever loves divine 
truths for the sake of his own glory, regards himself in them, 
and not the Lord ; whence he turns away his eyes, or the sight 
of his understanding and faith, from heaven to the world, and 
from the Lord to himself Such persons, consequently, are in 
the light of the world, but not in the light of heaven. These 
ippear in external form, or in the sight of men, equally intelli- 
gent and learned with those who are in the light of heaven, by 
reason that they speak in a similar manner, and sometimes in 
external appearance with more wisdom, because they are ex- 

(*) That the light of the world is for the external man, the light of heaven for the 
internal, nn. 3222, 3223, 3337. That the light of heaven flows into natural light, and 
that the natural man is so far wise, as he receives the light of heaven, nn. 4302, 4408. 
That from the light of the world, which is called natural light, the objects which aro 
in the light of hea^'en canno": be seen, but vice versa, n. 9755. Wherefore those who 
are in the light of the world alone do not perceive those things which are in the lighi 
of heaven, n. 3108. That the light of the world is thick darkness to the angels, nn. 
1621, 1783, ISSO. 

12 1Y7 



848. 349 hea\t:n. 

cited by self-love, and have learned to make a feigned display 
of heavenly affections ; but still in internal form, in which they 
appear in the sight of angels, they are totally different. From 
these observations may in some measure be seen, who they are 
that are meant by the intelligent that shall shine in heaven 
with the brightness of the firmament : but who are meant by 
those who turn many to righteousness, who shall shine as the 
stars, shall now be shown. 

348. By those who turn many to righteousness are meant 
those who are wise ; and, in heaven, those are called wise who 
are eminently grounded in good, and those are there eminently 
grounded in good, who admit divine truths immediately into 
the life. For when divine truth is incorporated in the life, it 
becomes good ; for it becomes the object of the will and love, 
and whatever is the object of the will and love is called good. 
These, therefore, are denominated wise, for wisdom belongs to 
the life ; but those are denominated intelligent, who do not 
immediately admit divine truths into the life, but first into the 
memory, whence they are afterwards drawn forth, and com- 
mitted to life. In what manner, and to what extent, these 
two classes of persons differ in the heavens, may be seen in the 
Section which treats of the two kingdoms of heaven, the celes- 
tial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom (nn. 20 — 28) ; and in 
that which treats of the three heavens (nn. 29 — 40). Those who 
dwell in the Lord's celestial kingdom, thus, those who dwell in 
the third or inmost heaven, are called the righteous, because 
they attribute nothing of righteousness to themselves, but all to 
the Lord. The Lord's righteousness, in heaven, is the good 
which proceeds from Him.(^) These, then, are the persons who 
are here meant by those who turn many to righteoiif^ness. They 
are the same as those of whom the Lord says, ''''The righteous 
shall shine as the sicn in the hingdom of their Father'^'' (Matt. 
xiii. 43) : the reason of its being said that they shall shine as 
the sun, is, because they are grounded in love to the Lord de- 
rived from the Lord ; and that that love is meant by the sun, 
has been shown above (nn. 116 — 125). The light, also, which 
shines around them, has a flaming appearance, and the ideas of 
their tliought partake of a flaming quality, by reason that they 
receive the good, of love immediately from the Lord as the Sun 
in heaven. 

349. All who have procured for themselves intelligence and 
wisdom in the world, are accepted in heaven, and become 

(') Tliat the n crit and i'i,^hteousncss of the Lord are the good which rules in heaven, 
nn. 9486, 9986. That a rig-hteous and justified person is one to whom the merit and 
righteousness of the Lorj are ascrihed ; and that he is unrighteous wlio has his own 
righteousness and t^elf-merit, nn. 5069, 9263. "What is the quality of those in the other 
lifc, who claim ri^fhtcousness to themselves, nn. 942, 2027. That justice or righteous- 
ness, in the Worl, is predicated of good, and judgment of truth; hence to do justice 
and judgment, is \ .» do what is good and true, nn. 2235, 9857. 

178 



HEAYEN. 350, 351 

angels, eveiy one according to the quality and quantity of his 
intelligence and wisdom. For whatever a man has acquired to 
himself in the world, remains, and he carries it with him after 
death : it is then also increased, and filled up, but only within 
the degree of his affection and desire for good and truth, but 
not beyond that degree. Those who had but little of such affec- 
tion and desire, receive but little, but still as much as they are 
able to receive within that degree ; but those who had much 
affection and desire receive much. The actual degree of the 
affection and desire, serves as a measure, which is filled full ; 
whence more is given to those whose measure is large, and less 
to those whose measure is small. The reason of this is, because 
love, to w^hich belong affection and desire, receives all that 
agrees with itself; whence lov^e and reception are co -extensive. 
This is meant by the Lord's words when he says, " Whosoever 
hath^ to Mm shall he given^ and he shall have inore abundance^ 
— (Matt. xiii. 12.) ''^Good measicre^ pressed down^ and shaken 
together^ and running over^ shall men give into your l)osor}%P — 
(Luke vi. 38.) 

350. All are received in heaven who have loved truth and 
good for their own sake. They, therefore, who have loved them 
much, are those w^ho are called the wise ; and they who have 
loved them but little, are those who are called the simple. In 
heaven, the wdse dwell in much light ; but the simple, in less ; 
every one according to the degree of his love for good and 
truth. To love truth and good for their own sake, is, to will 
them and do them ; for they who will them and do them are 
those that love them ; but not they who will and do them not. 
The former, also, are those that love the Lord, and are loved by 
Him ; for good and truth are from the Lord ; and such being 
the case. He is in them ; whence, also. He dwells with those 
who receive good and truth in their lives by willing and doing 
them. Man, likewise, regarded in himself, is nothing but his 
own good and truth, by reason that good is the object of his 
will, and truth of his understanding, and the quality of the man 
is such as is that of his will and understanding ; from which fact 
it is evident, that man is loved by the Lord, just in proportion 
as his will is formed by good, and his understanding by truth. 
To be loved by^ the Lord also means, to love the Lord : for love 
is reciprocal, and to him who is loved, it is granted by the Lord 
to love in return. 

Sol. It is supposed in the world, that they who possess much 
knowledge, whether relating to the doctrines of the church and 
to the Word, or to the sciences, see truths more interiorly and 
acutely than others, and thus are more intelligent and wise ; 
and such persons imagine the same respecting themselves. But 
what true intelligence and wisdom are, what spurious, and what 
false, shall be here declared. 

179 



351, 352 HEAVEN 

True intelligence and wisdom consist in seeing and perceiving 
what is true and good, and thence what is false and evil, and in 
accurately distinguishing the one from the other, by intuition 
and interior perception. Every man possesses interiors and 
exteriors, or interior and exterior principles or faculties, his 
interiors being those which belong to the internal or spiritual 
man, and his exteriors those which belong to the external or 
natural man : and according as his interiors are formed, and 
act as one with his exteriors, is the man's mental sight and per- 
ception. The interiors of man can only be formed in heaven ; 
but his exteriors are formed in the world. When the interiors 
are formed in heaven, their contents then flow^ into the exteriors 
which are derived from the world, and form them to correspond- 
ence, that is, to act as one with themselves ; and when this is 
accomplished, the man sees and perceives things from an inte- 
rior ground. In order that the interiors may be formed, the only 
means are, that the man should look to the Divine Being and to 
heaven ; for, as just observed, the interiors are formed in heaven : 
and man looks to the Divine Being when he believes in His exist- 
ence, and likewise, that all truth and good, and consequently all 
intelligence and wisdom, come from that Source ; and he believes 
in the Divine Being, when he is willing to be led by Him. It is 
in this way, and in no other, that the interiors of man are opened. 
The man who is grounded in that faith and in a life according to 
it, enjoys the power and capacity of becoming intelligent and 
wise : but in order to his becoming such actually, it is necessary 
for him to acquire a knowledge of many things, not only such 
as relate to heaven, but also such as relate to the world. Those 
relating to heaven are to be learned from the Word, and from 
the church ; and those relating to the world, from the sciences. 
In proportion as a man makes such acquisitions, and applies 
them to life, he becomes intelligent and wise ; for in the same 
proportion his interior sight, which is that of the understanding 
and his interior affection, which is that of the will, are perfected 
The simple of this class are they, whose interiors have been 
opened, but have not been much cultivated by spiritual, moral, 
civil, and natural truths ; these have a perception of truths when 
they hear them, but they do not see them in themselves : but 
the wise of this class are they, whose interiors have no*; only 
been opened, but have also been cultivated : these both see 
truths in themselves, and have a perception of them. From 
these observations it may be evident, what true intelligen«;e and 
wisdom are. 

352. Spurious intelligence and wisdom consist in not seeing 
and perceiving what is true and good, and thence what is false 
and evil, from an interior ground, but in only believing that to 
be true and good, or false and evil, which is so pronounced by 
others, and in afterwards confirming it as such. They who do 
180 



HEAVEN. 352, 353 

not see what is true from truth itself, but from the dictate of 
another, may as easily embrace and believe falsity as truth, and 
may also afterwards confirm it so as to appear to be truth ; for 
whatever is confirmed puts on the appearance of truth, and there 
is nothing whatever which may not be confirmed. The interiors 
of these persons are only open from below, but their exteriors 
are open to the extent of their confirmations : consequently, the 
light by which they see is not the light of heaven, but the light 
of the world, which is called natural light : for in this light falsi- 
ties may appear lucid like truths, nay, when they are confirmed, 
may shine with brilliance; but not in the light of heaven. Of 
this class, the less intelligent and wise are those who have greatly 
confirmed themselves in their assumed opinions ; but the more 
intelligent and wise are those who have done this but little. 
From these observations it may be evident what spurious intelli- 
gence and wisdom are. But in this class are not to be included 
those, who, in childhood, have supposed the sentiments to be 
true whicli they have heard from their masters, provided, when 
they grow up and think from their own understanding, they do 
not tenaciously adhere to those sentiments, but desire truth, and 
from such desire seek after it, and when they find it, are inte- 
riorly afifected by it : such persons, because they are afifected by 
truth for its own sake, see it to be truth before they confirm it as 
such.(-^) This shall be illustrated by an example. A conversation 
arose among certain spirits, as to whence it is that animals are 
born into all the knowledge suitable to their respective natures, 
whereas man is not : and it was observed, that the reason is, 
because animals exist in the order of their life, but man does 
not, wherefore he is to be brought into that order by means of 
knowledges and sciences ; whereas, if man were born into the 
order of his life, which is to love God above all things and his 
neighbor as himself, he would be born into intelligence and 
wisdom, and thence, also, into a belief of every truth, so far as- 
knowledges were present to make him acquainted with them. 
The good spirits saw this immediately, and perceived that it 
was so, solely by the light of truth : but the spirits who had 
confirmed themselves in faith alone, and had thence cast aside 
love and charity, could not understand it; because the light ut 
confirmed falsity had obscured, with them, the light of truth. 

353. False intelligence and wisdom are all such as do not 
include the ackno^vdedgment of a Divine Being, for all those 
w^ho do not acknowledge a Divine Being, but nature instead, 

C*) That wisdom consists in seeing and perceiving whether a thing be true before it 
is confirmed, but not ir. confirming what is said by others, nn. 1017, 4741, 7012, 7680, 
7950. That to see and to perceive whether a thing be true before it is confirmed, is 
only possible for those who are affected with truth for the sake of truth, and for the 
sake of life, n. 8521. That the light of confirmation is natural light and not spiritual : 
and that it is sensual light, which has place even with the wicked, n. 87S0. That all 
things, even falsities, may be confirmed, so as to appear like truths, nn. 2482, 2490, 
5083, 6865, 8521. 

ISl 



353 HEAVEN. 

think from the corporeal-sensual j)rinciple or nature, and are 
merely sensual men, how much soever they may be esteemed in 
the world as men of erudition and learnirig.(^) Their erudition 
does not ascend beyond such objects as appear in the world 
before their eyes, w^hich they retain in their memory, and con- 
template in almost a material manner ; although they are the 
same sciences as serve the truly intelligent for the formation of 
their understanding. By the sciences are meant the various 
kinds of experimental knowledge, such as physics, astrononi}^, 
chemistry, mechanics, geometry, anatomy, psychology, philoso- 
phy, history, both that of kingdoms or nations and of literature, 
criticism, and languages. JSTeither do those leaders in the church 
w^ho deny a Divine Being, elevate their thoughts beyond the 
sensual apprehensions which belong to the external man. They 
regard the Word, and whatever relates to it, only as others do 
the sciences, not making them subjects of thought, or of any 
intuition, proceeding from an enlightened rational mind. The 
reason is, because their interiors are closed, as are also their 
exteriors that are nearest to the interiors. These are closed, 
because such persons have averted themselves from heaven, and 
have turned the faculties which were capable of looking in that 
direction, and which, as observed above, are the interiors of the 
human mind, the contrary way : the consequence of which is, 
that they are not able to see what is true and good, these being 
to them in darkness, while falsity and evil are in light. Never- 
theless, sensual men are able to reason, and some of them more 
adroitly and acutely than other persons : but only from the falla- 
cies of the senses confirmed by their scientific acquisitions ; and 
because they possess this skill in reasoning, they also believe 
themselves to be wiser than others.(^) The fire which inflames 
their reasonings with its aftection, is the fire of the love of self 
and of the world. These are the characters who are the subjects 
of false intelligence and wisdom, and who are meant by the Lord 
when he says in Matthew, ''''They seeing see not^ and liearing they 

{*) That the sensual nature is the ulthnate of the life of man, adhering to, and in- 
hering in, his corporeal nature, nn. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730. That he is 
called a sensual man, who judges and concludes all things from the senses of the body, 
and who believes 7iothing out what he sees with his eyes and touches with his hands, 
nn. 5094, 7693. That such a man thinks in his outermost faculties, and not interiorly 
in himself, nn. 5080, 5094, 6564, 7698. That his interiors are closed, so that he sees 
nothing of divine truth, nn. 6564, 6844, 6845. In a word, that he is in gross natural 
light, and thus perceives nothing which is derived from the liffht of heaven, nn. 6201, 
G310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624. That therefore he is inwardly op- 
posed to all those things which belong to heaven and the church, mi. 6201, 6316, 6844, 
0845, 6948, 6949. Tliat the learned, who have confirmed themselves against the truths 
of the church, are sensual men, n. 6316. The quality of the sensual man is described, 
n. 10,236. 

(^) That sensual men reason acutely and cur iiingly, since they make all intelligence 
to consist in speaking from the corporeal n^ emory, nn. 195, 196, 5700, 10,236. But 
that they reason from the fallacies of the senses, nn. 5034, 6948, 6949, 7698. That sen- 
sual men are cunning and malicious more than others, nn. 7693, 10,236. That such 
were called by the ancients, serpents of the tree of knowledge, nn. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 
6949, 10,313. 

182 



HEAVEN, 354, 365 

hear not, neitJier do they under standi— {p^. xiii. 13.) And iii 
another place: ^^Thou hast hid th'?se things from the loise and 
jyrudent, and hast revealed them unto hales^ — (Ch. xi. 25.) 

354. It has been granted me to converse with many of the 
learned after their departure out of the world, including some 
of the highest reputation, who are celebrated for their writings 
through the whole literary world; and some who are not so 
celebrated, but who, nevertheless, had their minds stored with 
hidden wisdom. Those of the former class, who in heart had 
denied aDivineBeing, how much soever they had confessed him 
with theii* lips, vrere become so stupid, that thev conld scarcely 
understand any truth relating to civil affairs, much less any 
spiritual truth. I perceived, and saw too, that their interiors 
belonging to the mind were so closed as to appear black (in the 
spiritual world, such things are made objects of sight) ; and thus 
that they could not endure any ray of heavenly light, and, con- 
sequently, could not admit any influx from heaven. The black- 
ness, with which their interiors appeared to be invested, was 
greatest, and extended farthest, in those who had confirmed 
themselves against the existence of a Divine Being by scientific 
considerations supplied by their erudition. In the other life, 
such persons receive every thing false with delight, imbibing it 
as a sponge does water ; whilst they repel every thing true, as a 
bony elastic surface repels what falls on it. I have also been 
told, that the interiors of those w^ho have confirmed themselves 
against a Divine Being, and in favor of mere nature, are actually 
ossified : their head, likewise, appears like a callous substance, 
as if made of ebony, which reaches even to the nose — a sign that 
they no longer possess any perception. Those w-ho are of this 
character are immersed in whirlpools, which appear like bogs, 
where they are w^hirled about by the phantasies into which their 
false notions are turned. The infernal fire which torments them 
is their thirst for glory and renown ; from which thirst they as- 
sault one another, and, from their internal heat, torture those who 
do n(jt worship them as deities ; and thus, by turns, they torture 
each other. Into such insanities and horrors is turned all w^orldly 
erudition, when not made interiorly receptive of light from heav- 
en, by the acknowledgment of a Di\'ine Being. 

355. That the learned of this class are of such a quality in the 
spiritual world, when they go thither after death, may be con- 
cluded from this circumstance alone : that then aU things that 
are deposited in the natural memory, and are immediately in 
connection with the sensual organs and faculties of the body, as 
are such scientific acquirements as are mentioned above, are 
quiescent, and only the rational conclusions which had been 
deduced from them there serve for the materials of thought and 
speech. Man carries with him, indeed, all his natural memory, 
but the things contained in it are rot, there, under his view, and 

183 



355, 356 HEAVEN. 

do not present tliemselves to liis thoughts, as tliey did while lie 
hv^ed in the ^yorld. jSTothing can he thence take out, and bring 
forth into spiritual light, because it contains nothing which belongs 
to that light. But the rational or intellectual conclusions or ideas 
which man has acquired for himself from the sciences while he 
lived in the body, agree with the light of the spiritual world ; 
whence it results, that just in proportion as a man's spirit has 
been made rational by means of knowledges and sciences in the 
world, is he rational when separated from the body : for then the 
man is a spirit ; and the spirit is that which thinks while he lives 
in the body.(^) 

356. Those, on the other hand, who, by means of knowledges 
and sciences, have procured for themselves intelligence and wis- 
dom, bemg those who have applied them all to uses of life, and 
at the same time have acknowledged a Divine Being, have loved 
the Word, and have lived the spiritual-moral life described above 
(n. 319) ; to these the sciences have served for means of becoming 
wise, and also, of corroborating the principles of faith. The inte- 
riors belonging to the minds of these were perceived by me, and 
seen too, as if transparent with light, and of a white, flaming, or 
azure color, like that of pellucid diamonds, rubies, and sapphires ; 
and that they had this appearance, according to the extent to 
which they had derived confirmations from the sciences in favor 
of the existence of a Divine Being, and in favor of divine truths. 
True intelligence and wisdom appear under such forms when 
exhibited to view in the spiritual world; and they derive the 
appearance from the light of heaven, which is the Divine Truth 
proceeding from the Lord, from which all intelligence and wisdom 
are derived. (See above, nn. 126 — 133.) The planes for the recep 
tion of that light, in which the variegations, like those of colors, 
exist, are the interiors of the mind ; and coniirmations of divine 
truths by means of such objects as exist in nature, thus such as 
are treated of in the sciences, pi*oduce those variegations.Q For 

(*) That matters of external knowledg-e, which may be called scienttfies, belong to 
the natural memory, which man possesse:< in the body, nn. 5212, 9922. That man car- 
ries with him after death all the natural memory, n. 2475 : from experience, nn. 2481 — 
2486. But that he cannot then briucf any thiug forth from that memory, as in the 
world, for several reasons, nn. 2476, 2477, 2749. 

C) That mcst beautiful colors appear in heaven, nn. 1053, 1624. That colors in 
heaven are derived from the light tiiero, and that they are its modifications or variega- 
tions, nn. 1042, lO'iS, 1053, 1624, 3993, 453!\ 4922, 4742. Thus that they are the appear- 
ances of truth derived from good, and signify such things as belong to intelligence 
and wisdom, nn. 4530, 4922, 4677, 9466. 

Extracts from tlie Arcana C<elestia respeeting the Sciences, 

That man ought to bo imbued with sciences and knowledges, since by thorn he learns 
to think, afterwards tc understand what is true and good, aiul at length to grow wise, 
nn. 129, 1450, 1451, 1453, 1548, 1802. That scientifics* are tlie first grounds on which 

• For convenience, this word is retained, because, though not usual in the EngTish language, there 
is no otlier single word that will express the Author's n>eanji)g ; and because, on this account, it has 
been generally adopted in the translation of the Arcana Cmlestia, and of his otht-r works. It is applied 
by the Author, not only to what are termed, in the customary use of the term as an adjective in Eu^ 
lish, scientific ."uhjcct.s, but to all mitters of knowledge of an external kind, such as abide iu thu 
memorjtas mati ;ri of fact, but ari not eeii La iat^lleitual light, or viewoa wy rational intuition.— .Y. 

184 



HEAVEN. 356 

the interior mind of man takes a view of the stores in liis natural 
memor}^, and such things as it finds there that can be applied in 
confirmation, it sublimates, as it were, bj the fire of heavenly 
love, separates them from gross appendages, and purifies them 
even into spiritual ideas. That such a process takes place, is 

is built and founded the life of man, both, civil, moral, and spiritual, and that they ar-4 
learned for the sake of use as an end, nn. 1489, 3310. That Knowledges open the way 
to the internal man, and afterwards conjoin that man with the external according to 
uses, nn. 1563, 1616. Tiiat the rational principle is born by means of scioices and 
knowledges, nn. 1895, 1900, 3086. Yet not by knowledges themselves, but by the 
affection of the uses derived from them, n. 1895- 

That there are scientilics which admit divine truths, and others which do not admit 
them, n. 5213. That empty scientifics ought to be destroyed, nn. 1489, 1492, 1499, 
1580. That empty scientifics are tliose which have for their end, and which confirm, 
the loves of self and of the world, and which withdraw from love to God and love 
towards the neighbor ; because such scientifics close the internal man, so that man 
atterwards cannot receive any thing from heaven, nn. 1563, 1600. That scientifics are 
the means of growing wise, and the means of becoming insane, and tliat by them the 
internal man is eitlier opened or closed, and thus the z-ational principle is either culti- 
vated or destroyed, nn. 4156, 8628, 9922. 

That the internal man is opened and successively perfected by scientifics, if man has 
good use for an end, especially a use which respects eternal life, n. 3086. That in tliis 
case, scientifics, wiiieh reside in the natural man, are met by spiritual and celestial 
things from the spiritual man, which adopt such as are suitable, n. 1495. Tliat the 
uses of heavenly life in this case are extracted, purified, and elevated, from the scien- 
tifics which reside in the natural man, by the internal man, from the Lord, nn. 1895, 
1896, 1900, 1901, 1902, 5871, 5874, 5901. And that incongruous and opposing scien- 
tifics are cast aside, and exterminated, nn. 5871, 5886., 5889. 

That the sight of the internal man calls forth from the scientifics of the external man 
no other things than what accord with its love, n. 9394. That beneath the sight of the 
internal man, those things which belong to the love are in the centre, and appear in 
clearness ; but those things which do not belong to the love are at the sides, and 
appear in obscurity, nn. 6068, 6085. That suitable scientifics are successively implanted 
cU man's loves, and as it were dwell in them, n. 6325. That man would be born into 
intelHgence, if he were born into love towards his neighbor; but as he is born into 
the love of self and of the world, he is born in total ignorance, nn. 6823, 6325. That 
science, intelligence, and wisdom, are offsprings of love to God, and of love towards 
the neighbor, nn. 1226, 2049, 2116. 

That it is one thing to be wise, another thing to understand, another to know, :ind 
another to do ; but that stili, with those who possess spiritual life, they follow in order, 
and exist together in doing, or in deed, n. 10,381. That also it is one thing to know, 
another to acknowledge, and another to have faith, n. 896. 

That scientifics, which belong to the external or natural man, reside in the light of 
the world; but that truths, which have been made. truths of faith and of love, and 
have thus gained life, reside in the light of heaven, n. 5212, That the truths which 
have gained spiritual life, are comprehended by natural ideas, n. 5510. That spiritual 
influx proceeds from the internal or spiritual man into the scientifics which are in tlie 
external or natural man, nn. 1940, 8005. That scientifics are the receptacles, and as it 
were, the vessels, of the truth and good which belong to the internal man, nn. 1469, 
1496, 3068, 5489, 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077, 7770, 9922. That scientifics are, as it 
•were, mirrors, in which the truths and goods of the internal man appear as in an 
image, n. 5201. That they there abide together as in their ultimate, nn. 5373, 5874, 
5886, 5901^ «004, 6023, 6052, 6071. 

That innux is spiritual and not physical, that is, that there is influx from the inter- 
nal man into the external, thus into the scientifics of the latter, but not from the exter- 
nal into the internal ; thus not from the scientifics of the former into the truths of 
faith, nn._3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9110, 9111. That from the truths of 
the doctrine df the church, which are derived from the Word, the principle from 
which to set out is to be drawn, and those truths are first to be acknowledged, and 
that afterwards it is allowable to consult scientifics, n. 6047. Thus that it is allowable 
for those who are grounded in an affirmative principle respecting the truths of faith, to 
confirm them intellectuaUy by scientifics, but not for those who are in a negative prin- 
ciple, nn. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6047. That he who refuses to believe divine truths unless 
he be persuaded by scientifics, will never believe them, nn. 2)94, 2832. That to enter 
into the truths of faith from scientifics is contrary to order, n. 10,286. That those who 
do £0 become infatuated as to t ose things which belong to heaven and the clmrch, na* 

185 



356 HEAVEN. 

unknown to man whilst lie lives in the body, because he there 
thmks both spiritually and naturally at the same time, and what 
he thinks spiritually he is not conscious of, but only of what he 
thinks naturally ; whereas, when he comes into the spiritual 
world, he is not conscious of any thing that he thought naturally 
in the world, but only of what he thought spiritually : such is 
his change of state. 

From these facts it is manifest, that man is made spiritual by 
means of knowledges and sciences, and that these are the me- 
diums of becoming wise, — only, however, to those, who, both in 
faith and in life, have acknowledged the Divine Being. Such 
persons, also, are accepted in heaven more than others, and are 
among those who there dwell in the centre (see n. 43), as being 

128, 129, 140. That they fall into falsities of evil, nn. 232, 233, 6047. And that in the 
other life, when they think on spiritual subjects, they become like persons intoxicated. 
n. 1072. What their further quality is, n. 1^6. Examples illustrating' that thing^s spir- 
itual cannot be comprehended, if entered into by scientifics, nn. 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 
2209. That many of the learned are more insane in spiritual things than the simple, 
by reason that they are immersed in a negative principle, and confirm this by scien- 
tifics, which they have continually and in abundance before their view, nn. 4760, 
8629. 

That those who reason from scientifics against the truths of faith, reason sharply, 
because from the fallacies of the senses, which are engaging and persuasive, since it is 
with difficulty that they can be dispersed, n. 5700. What and of what quality the fal- 
lacies of the senses are, nn. 5084, 5094, 6400, 6948. That those who understand noth- 
ing of truth, and likewise those who are immersed in evil, can reason about the truths 
and goods of faith, and yet not understand them, n. 4214. That merely to confirm a 
dogma is not the part of an intelligent person, but to see whether it be true or not, 
before it is confirmed, nn. 4741, 6047. 

That sciences are of no avail after death, but what a man has imbibed in his nnder- 
Btanding and life by means of sciences, n, 2480. That still all scientifics remain after 
death, but that they are quiescent, nn. 2476—2479, 2481—2486. 

That the same scientifics, with the evil, are falsities, because they are applied to evils, 
and with the good, are truths, because they are applied to good, n. 6917. That scien- 
tific truths, with the evil, are not truths, howsoever they may appear as truths whea 
they are spoken, because inwardly in them there is evil, n. 10,331. 

What is the quality of the desire of knowing, which spirits have, an example, n. 
1973. That with the angels there is an immense desire of knowing and of growing 
wise, since science, intelligence, and wisdom are spiritual food, nn. 8114, 4459, 4792, 
4976, 5147, 5293, 5840, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 6277, 8562, 9003. That 
the science of the ancients was the science of cori-espondences and representations, by 
which they introduced themselves into the knowledge of spiritual things ; but that 
that science at this day is altogether obliterated, nn. 4844, 4749, 4964, 4965. 

Spiritual truths cannot be comprehended, unless the following universals be known : 
I. That all things in the universe have reference to good and truth, and to the con- 
junction of both, in order to their possessing any real existence ; thixs, to love and 
faith, and their conjunction. II. That man possesses an understanding and M'ill, and 
that the understanding is the receptacle of truth, and the will of good ; and that all 
things have reference to those two faculties appertaining to man, and to their conjunc- 
tion, as all things have reference to truth and good, and their conjunction. III. That 
there is an internal man and an external, and that they are as distinct from each other 
as heaven and the world ; and yet that they ought to make one, in order that man 
may be truly a man, IV. That the light of heaven is that in which the internal man 
is, and the light of the world that in which the external man is, and that the light of 
heaven is divine truth itself, which is the source of all intelligence. V. That there is 
a correspondence between the things which exist in the internal man and those which 
exist in the external, and that hence they appear in all cases under another aspect, 
insomuch that they are not discerned except by the science of correspoidences. Un- 
less these and several other things be known, no ideas can be conceived and formed 
of spiritual and celestial truths except such as are incongruous ; and thus scientifics 
and Itnowlcdges, whicli belong to the natural man, without those universals, can be ot 
little service to the rational man for understanding and improvement. Hoaoe it is 
evident how necessary scientifics are. 

186 



HEAVEN. 357 358 

in the light more than others. These are the intelligent and 
wisci in heaven, who shine with the brightness of the firmament, 
and who shine as the stars. Bnt the simple, there, are those 
who liave acknowledged tlie Divine Being, have loved the Word, 
and have lived a spiritual-moral life, but with whom the inte- 
riors belonging to the mind have not been much cultivated by 
knowlf^dges and sciences. The human mind is like ground, 
which acquh-es a quality according to the pains bestowed on its 
cultivation. 



OF THE RICH AND THE POOR IN HEAVEN. 

357. Yarious opinions exist respecting the reception of people 
in heaven. Some imagine, that the poor are received there, but 
not the rich ; others, that rich and poor are admitted alike ; 
others, that the rich cannot be accepted, unless they relinquish 
their possessions, and put themselves on a level with the poor ; 
and all confirm their respective opinions by the AYord. But 
they who make any difi'erence between the rich and the poor in 
regard to their capability of admission into heaven, do not un- 
derstand the Word. The Word, in its inward recesses, is spiri- 
tual, but in its letter it is natural ; whence they who only appre- 
hend the Word as to its literal sense, and not, in any degree, as 
to its spiritual sense, cannot but fall into error on many subjects, 
and especially respecting the rich and the poor • as when they 
suppose, that it is as difficult for the rich to go to heaven as it is 
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and that it is easy 
to the poor merely because they are poor, it being said, " Blessed 
he ye i^oor ', for yours is the Tcingdom of GodP — (Luke vi. 20.) 
But tliey who know any thmg of the spiritual sense of the Word, 
think diiferentlv, beins: aware that heaven is desimed for all who 
live a lite of faith and love, whether they be rich or poor. But 
who are meant in the Word by the rich, and who by the poor, 
wiU be shown in what follows. From much conversation with 
the angels, and from living in society with them, I have had 
opportunity of knowing with certainty, that the rich obtain ad- 
mission into heaven as easily as the poor ; and that no ma,n is 
excluded from heaven merely because he abounded in this world's 
goods, and no man is received there merely because he was with- 
out them. There are in heaven both rich and poor ; and there 
are many of the rich who are in stations of greater glory and hap- 
piness than the poor. 

358. It is proper to mention by way of preface, that a man 
may acquire riches, and accumulate wealth, as far as opportunity 
is given him, provided it is not accomplished by the exercise ot 
cunning and of wicked arts ; that he may eat and diink daintily, 

187 



358 HEAVEN. 

provided lie does not make his life to consist in such enjoyments ; 
tliat he may have a handsome house and fm-niture, so far as is 
suitable to his situation in life ; that he may converse with others 
as others do, may frequent places of amusement, and talk about 
worldly affairs ; and that he has no need always to wear an aii 
of devotion, going with a sad and sorrowful countenance, and 
walking with his head bowing down, but may appear good- 
humored and cheerful ; and that neither is he obliged to give his 
property to the poor, any further than affection leads him to do 
60 ; in one word, that he may live, in external form, just as a 
man of the world does : and that these things will not prevent 
his going to heaven, provided, in the inward recesses of his mind, 
he thinks respecting God in a becoming manner, and deals sin- 
cerely and justly with his neighbor. For man is such in quality 
as are his affection and thought, or his love and faith : aU. things 
that he does in externals thence derive their life, for to act is to 
will, and to speak is to think, because a man acts from his will 
and speaks from his thought. On this account, when it is said 
in the Word, that man will be judged according to his deeds and 
rewarded according to his works, the meaning is, that he will 
be judged and rewarded according to the thought and affection 
from which his deeds or works proceeded, or which were included 
in them ; for without these, the actions are of no moment, and 
the character of the actions is precisely that of the thought and 
affection from which they are performed.(^) It hence is evident, 
that the external of man goes for nothing, but that the internal 
is all, from which the external proceeds. Let us take an illus- 
tration. SujDpose a person to act sincerely, and to abstain from 
defrauding another, merely because he is afraid of the law^, of 
the loss of character, and thence of honor and gain, but who, if 
that fear did not restrain him, would defraud others as much as 
he could ; thus, in his thought and will is fraud, and 3^et his 
deeds, in their external form, appear sincere : such a person, be- 
ing insincere and fraudulent interiorly, has hell within him. On 
the other hand, suppose a person to act sincerely, and to abstain 
from defrauding another, because to do otherwise would be to 
sin against God and against his neighbor : this person, if he had 

(') That it is very frequently said in the Word, that man shall be judged, and that 
he shall be recompensed, according to his deeds and his works, n. 3934. That by 
deeds and works, in such passages, are not meant deeds and works in the external 
form, but in the internal ; since good works in the external form are done also by the 
wicked, but in the external and at the same time in the internal form, only by the good, 
nn. 3934, 6073. Tliat works, like all acts, derive their esse and e^cistere, and their qual- 
ity, from the interiors of man, which are those of his thought and will, since they 
thence proceed ; wherefore, such as the interiors are, such are the works, nn. 3934, 
8911, 10,331. Thus, such as the interiors are in regard to love and faitli, nn. 3934, 
6073, 10,331, 10,333. That thus, works contain those principles, and are them in effect, 
n. 10,331. Wherefore, for a man to be judged and recompensed according to his 
deeds and works, denotes, according to those principles, nn. 3147, 3934, 6<.i73, 8911, 
10,331, 10,333. That works, so far as they respect self and the world, are not good, 
but only so far as they respect the Lord and a man's neighbor, n. 3147. 

188 



HEAVEN. 359, 360 

opportunity to defraud another, still would not do it : his thought 
ana will are regulated by conscience ; thus, he has heaven witEin 
him. In external form, the deeds of both appear similar ; but in 
internal, they are totally different. 

359. Since a man may live, in external form, as others do ; 
may acquire riches, keep a plentiful table, be elegantly lodged 
and attired according to his condition and occupation, may en- 
joy pleasurable and cheerful scenes and objects, and undertake 
worldly engagements for the sake of occupation and business, 
and in order that his life, both of mind and body, may be kept 
in a sound state, provided he interiorly acknowledges the Divine 
Being and cherishes good-will to his neighbor ; it is evident, 
that it is not so difficult to enter the way to heaven as many sup- 
pose. The only difficulty is, to be able to resist the love of self 
and of the world, and to prevent it from being predominant ; for 
this is the root of all evils.(^) That it is not so difficult as many 
suppose, is taught by these words of the Lord : " Learn of Me / 
for I am meek and lowly of heart y and ye shall find rest unto 
your soids. For My yoke is easy^ and My hurden is light?'' — 
(Matt. xi. 29, 30.) The reason that the Lord's yoke is easy, and 
His burden light, is, because, so far as a man resists the evils 
that spring from the love of self and of the world, he is led by 
the Lord, and not by himself; and the Lord afterwards resists 
those evils in man, and removes them. 

360. I have conversed after death with some, who, while on 
earth, renounced the world, and gave themselves up to an almost 
solitary life, that by the abstraction of their thoughts from worldly 
concerns, they might be incessantly engaged in pious medita- 
tions ; believing that this was the way to enter the path to heav- 
en. But these, in the other life, are found to have acquired a 
melancholy disposition : they despise others who are not like 
themselves, and are indignant at not obtaining a happier lot than 
others, believing that they have deserved it ; neither have they 
any concern about others ; and they avert themselves from offices 
of charity, though it is by these that conjunction is maintained 
with heaven. They desire heaven more than others do ; but 
when they are raised to where the angels are, they cause anxie- 
ties, which disturb the felicities of the angels ; wherefore they 
are sej^arated from their society ; after which they betake them- 
selves to desert places, where they follow a similar life to that 
which they led in the world. Man can only be formed for heav- 
en by means of the world. It is there that ultimate effects have 
their station, into which the affection of every one is to be deter- 



(') That all evils are derived from the love of self and of the world, uu. 1307, 1308, 
1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7480, 7488, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10,038, 10,742. Which 
are, contempt of others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit, un. 6667, 7372, 7373, 
7374, 9348, 10,038, 10,742, That man is born into those loves, thus that in them are 
his hereditary evils, nn. 694, 4317» 5660. 

189 



360, 361 HEAVEN. 

mined ; for unless tlie affection puts itself forth, or effuses itself 
into acts, wliich is done in a numerous society, it is suffocated, 
and, at last, so completely, that the man has no longer any re- 
spect to his neighbor, but only to himself. It hence is manifest, 
that the life of charity towards the neighbor, which consists in 
doing what is just and right in all our dealings and occupations, 
leads to heaven ; but not a life of piety without the former :(^ 
consequently, that the exercises of charity, and the increase ol 
the life of charity by their means, can only have existence so far 
as a man is engaged in occupations of business ; and that they 
cannot have existence, so far as he removes himself from such 
occupations. Of those who have done so, I will now speak from 
experience. Many of those who had employed themselves in 
the world in trade and merchandise, and also had become rich 
by these pursuits, are in heaven ; but fewer of those w^ho attained 
rank and wealth by filling offices in the state ; and the reason is, 
because the latter, by the gain they had made, and by the hon- 
ors conferred upon them, for dispensing justice and equity, and 
also by conferrmg posts of profit and honor on others, v^ere in- 
duced to love themselves and the world, and through this, to re- 
move their thoughts and affections from heaven, and turn them 
to themselves. For so far as a man loves himself and the world, 
and respects himself and the world m every thing, he alienates 
himself from the Divine Being, and removes himself from 
heaven. 

361. The lot of the rich who go to heaven is of such a nature, 
that they find themselves in the possession of opulence beyond 
others. Some of them dwell in palaces, all the interior and fur- 
niture of which shine as with gold and silver ; and they have 
abundance of every thing that can promote the uses of life. They 
do not, however, in the smallest degree, place their hearts on 
these things, but on the uses themselves : these they behold in 
clearness, and as if in the light ; but the gold and silver they see 
obscurely, and as if, respectively, in the shade. The reason is, 
because, in the world, they had loved uses, and gold and silver 
only as means, and instruments of service. Thus uses them- 
selves are refulgent in heaven ; the good of use shining like gold, 
and truth of use like silver.(*) According to the quality, there- 



(^) That eliarity towards a man's neighbor consists in doing what is good, just, and 
right, in all our dealings and in every employment, nn. 8120, 8121, 8122. Hence, tha< 
charity towards a man s neighbor extends itself to all things, both general and par- 
ticular, which he thinks, wills, and does, n. 8124. That a life of piety without a life 
of charity is of no avail, but with it is profitable for all things, nn. 8252, 8253. 

(*) That all good has its delight from use, and according to use, nn. 804i), 49S-i, Y'^SS ; 
and also its quality ; consequentlv, such as the use is, such is the good, n. b049- That 
all the happiness and delight of life result from uses, n. 997. In gsneral, that life is 
the life of uses, n. 1964. That angelic life consists in the goods of love and charity, 
thus in performing uses, n. 452. That the Lord, and from Him the angels, regard only 
the ends rospected by man, which ends are uses, nn. 1317, 1645, 5844. That the king- 
dom of the Lord 'b a kingdom of uses, nn, 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038. That to 

190 



HEAVEN. 362, 363 

fore, of the uses wliicli such persons had performed in the world, 
is tliat of their opulence in heaven, and of their enjoyment and 
happhiess. Good uses consist in a man's providing for himself 
and his tamily the necessaries of life ; in desiring abundance for 
the sake of his country, and also of his neighbor, to whom a rich 
man can do good in many ways, which a poor man cannot ; and 
because he is thus enabled to withdraw his mind from a life oi 
idleness, which is a pernicious life, since, in idleness, man, from 
the evil inherent in him, is prone to indulge bad thoughts. 
These uses are good, so far as they have in them a Divine Prin- 
ciple ; that is, so far as man looks in them to the Divine Being 
and to heaven, and places his own good m those uses, and only 
in wealth as a subordinate good, tending to promote the foi*mer. 

362. But the lot of those rich men who have not believed in 
a Divine Being, and have rejected from their mind the things 
belonging to heaven and the church, is quite contrary. These 
are in hell, surrounded by filth, misery, and destitution. Such 
are the things into which riches are turned when they are loved 
as an end ; and not only the riches are so changed, but also the 
uses to which they have been applied, and which were, either 
that their possessors might follow m every thing the bent of their 
inclinations, indulge in voluptuous enjoyments, and be able, 
more abundantly and freely, to give their mind to flagitious 
practices ; or else, to exalt themselves over others, whom they 
despise. These riches, and these uses, seeing they have nothing 
in them of a spiritual, but only what is of an earthly nature, 
turn to filth. For a spiritual princi]3le contained in riches and 
the uses of them, is like the soul in the body, and like the light 
of heaven in moist ground : without it, they rot, like a body 
without a soul, and like moist ground without the light of heav- 
en. These are the persons whom riches seduce, and who are 
withdrawn by them fi*om heaven. 

363. The ruling afifection or love of every man remains with 
him after death, and is not extirpated to eternity. The reason of 
this is, because the spirit of a man is altogether such as his love 
is ; and, what is an arcanum, the body of every spirit and angel 
is the external form of his love, perfectly corresponding to its 
internal form, which is that of his natural and rational mind. 
Hence it is that spirits are known as to their quality by their 
countenance, then' gestures, and their speech; and man would 
be known in the same manner, as to his spirit, while he lives in 
the world, had he not learned to put on, in his countenance, his 
gestures, and his speech, appearances which do not belong to 
him. From these facts it may be seen with certainty, that man 
remains to eternity, such as is his predominant affection or love. 



eerve the Lord is to perform uses, n. 7038. That all have a quality according to th« 
quality of the uses wnich they perform, nn. 4054, 6315 ; illustrated, n. 7038. 

191 



363, 364 HEAVEN. 

It has been granted me to converse with some who lived seven- 
teen centuries ago, and whose lives are known from the writings 
of that age ; and it was ascertained, that they are still led by the 
love which prevailed in them then. It may hence also appear 
with certainty, that the love of riches, and of the nses to be per 
formed by riches, remains with ever^^ one to eternity, and con- 
tinues to be completely of the same quality as had been acquired 
in the world. There is, however, this difference ; that riches, 
with those who had employed them for good uses, are turned 
into enjoyments according to those uses ; whereas riches, with 
those who had employed them for bad uses, are turned into filth ; 
with which also, they are then delighted ; much as, in the world, 
they had been delighted with riches for the sake of the bad uses 
to which they applied them. The reason that they are then 
delighted with filth, is, because the foul voluptuous pleasures 
and flagitious practices, which were the uses to which they ap- 
plied them, — and avarice likewise, which is the love of riches 
without regard to any use, — correspond to filth. Spiritual filth 
is nothing else. 

364. As for the poor, they do not go to heaven on account of 
their poverty, but on account of their life. His life follows every 
Dne, whether he be rich or poor. There is no special grace for 
one any more than for another :(*) he is received who has lived 
well, and he is rejected w^ho has lived ill. Besides, poverty se- 
duces and withdraws a man from heaven, as much as wealth 
does. Among the poor are great numbers who are not content 
with their lot, who covet many things, and who believe riches to 
be real blessings ;(^ on which account, not obtaining them, they 



are incensed, and form bad thoughts of the Divine Providence. 
They also envy others their advantages ; and, besides, they are 
equally ready to defraud others when they find opportunity, and 
equally live in debasing voluptuous pleasures. Not so the poor 
who are content with their lot, who are industrious and diligent 
in their calling, who love work better than idleness, and who 
deal sincerely and faithfully ; living, at the same time, a Christian 
life. I have sometimes conversed with some of those, who be- 
longed to the class of peasants and common people, wdio, while 
they lived in the world, had believed in God, and had done what 
was just and right in their callings. Being grounded in an affec- 
tion for knowing the truth, they asked what charity and faith 
are ; because, in the world, they had heard much about faith, 

(*) That there is no such thing as immediate mercy, but that mercy is mediate, that 
IS, is shown to those who live according to the Lord's precepts ; because, froma prin- 
ciple of mercy. He leads men continually in the world, and afterwards to eternity, nn. 
8700, 10,G59. 

(^) That dignities and riches are not real blessings, wherefore they are given to the 
wicked as well as to the good, nn. 8989, 10,775, 10,776. That real blessing is the recep- 
tion of love and of faith from the Lord, and thereby conjunction, for thence comet 
eternal happiness, nn. UiJO, 1422, 2846, 3017, 3408, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, 4318, 
4981, 8939, 10,495. 

192 



HEAVEN. 364, .S(?5 

and, in the other life, much about charity. It was, therefore, 
told them, that charity is every thing that relates to life, and faith 
is every thing that relates to doctrine ; consequently, that charity 
consists in willing and doing what is just and right in all our 
dealings, and faith in thinking justly and rightly : and that faith 
and charity are mutually conjoined, like doctrine and a life ac- 
cording to it, or like thought and will ; and that faith becomes 
charity, when a man also wills and does what he justly and 
rightly thinks ; on the accomplishment of which, they are no 
longer two, but one. All this they well understood, and rejoiced 
at the information, observing that, when in the world, they could 
not comprehend, how believing could be any thing else than 
living. 

365. From these facts it may appear with certainty, that both 
rich and poor go to heaven alike, and the one as easily as the 
other. The reason that it is imagined that the poor are admitted 
easily, and the rich with difficulty, is, because the Word has not 
been understood, where it makes mention of the rich and the 
poor. By the rich are there meant, in the spiritual sense, those 
who abound in the knowledges of good and truth, thus who be- 
long to the church, which is in possession of the Word ; and by 
the poor, those who are destitute of such knowledges, but yet 
desire them, thus, who live hi countries beyond the limits of the 
church, where the Word does not exist. By the rich man who 
was clothed in purple and fine Imen, and who was cast into hell, 
is meant the Jewish nation, which, as possessing the Word, and 
thence abounding in the knowledges of good and tnith, is called 
a rich man. By garments of purple are also signified knowledges 
of good, and by garments of fine linen, knowledges of truth.(') 
But by the poor man who lay at his gate, and desired to be fed 
with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, and who 
was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom, are meant the 
Gentiles, who did not possess the knowledges of good and truth, 
but yet desired them. — (Luke xvi. 19 — 31.) By the rich men 
who were called to a great supper, and excused themselves, is 
also meant the Jewish nation ; and by the poor men who were 
introduced in their place, are meant the nations that were not 
within the church. — (Luke xii. 16 — 24.) Who are meant by the 
rich man, of whom the Lord said, ^^It is more easy for a camel 
to go through the eye of a needle^ than for a rich man to enter 
into the kingdom of God^'' (Matt. xix. 24), shall also be explained. 
By a rich man are there meant the rich in both senses, both the 
natural and the spiritual. In the natural sense, the rich arc 
those who abound in wealth, and set their heart upon it : but, in 
the spiritual sense, they are those who abound in knowledges 

C) That garments signify truths, thus knowledges, nn. 1073, 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 
9216, 9952, 10,536. That purple signifies celestial good, n. 9467. That fine linen sig 
nif es truth from a celestial onsrin, nn. 5319, 9469, 9744. 

13 193 



865, 366 HEAYEX. 

and sciences, for these are spiritual riclies, and who desire, "bj 
means of them, to introduce themselves, by self-derived intelli- 
gence, into the things belonging to heaven and the church. As 
this is contrary to divine order, it is said that it is easier for a 
camel to pass through the eye of a needle : for in the spiritual 
sense, by a camel is signified the principle of knowledge and 
science in general, and by the eye of a needle, spiritual truth. (^ 
That such things are signified by a camel and the eye of a needle, 
is not known at the present day, because hitherto the science has 
not been disclosed, which teaches what is meant, in the spiritual 
sense of the Word, by the expressions employed in its literal 
sense. In every particular of the Word there is contained a 
spiritual sense ; and a natural sense also ; for, in order that con- 
junction might be effected between heaven and the world, or 
between angels and men, after immediate conjunction had ceased, 
the Word was written by j)ure correspondences, according to the 
relation between natural things and spiritual. It hence is evi- 
dent, who are specifically meant by the rich man in the above 
cited passage. (That by the rich are meant in the Word, in its 
spiritual sense, those who possess the knowledges of good and 
truth, and, by riches, those knowledges themselves, which also 
are real sj^iritual riches, may be seen from various passages : as 
Isaiah x. 12 — 14, xxx. 6, 7, xlv. 3 ; Jerem. xvii. 3, xlvii. 7, 1. 36, 
37, li. 13; Dan. v. 2, 3, 4; Ezek. xxvi. 7, 12, xxvii. 1 — end; 
Zech. ix. 3, 4; Ps. xl. 13; Hos. xii. 9; Rev. iii. 17, 18; Luke 
xiv. 33 ; and elsewhere. And that by the poor in the spiritual 
sense, are signified those who do not possess the knowledges of 
good and truth, and yet desire them, may be seen from Matt, 
xi. 5 ; Luke vi. 20, 21, xiv. 21 ; Isa. xiv. 30, xxix. 19, xli. 17, 18 ; 
Zeph. iii. 12, 18. All these texts may be seen explained in the 
Arcana Coelestia^ n. 10,227.) 



OF MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN. 

366. Since the inhabitants of heaven are from the human race, 
whence consequently the angels who occupy it are of both sexes ; 

(") That a camel, in tlie Word, signifies the principle of knowledge and of science in 
general, nn. 8048, 3071, 3143, 8145. What is meant by needle-work, and working with 
a needle ; and hence, what by a needle, n. 9688. That to enter into the truths of faith 
from scientifics is contrary to divine order, n. 10,236. That those who do so become 
infatuated as to tliose things which belong to heaven and to the church, nn. 128, 129, 
130, 232, 233, 6047. And that in the other life, when they think about spiritual tilings, 
they become like persons intoxicated, n. 1072. What further is their quality, n. 1<J6. 
Examples to illustrate that spiritual things cannot be comprehended, if entrance to 
them be made by scientifics, nn. 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209. That from spiritual truth 
it is allowable to enter into the scientifics which belong to the natural man ; but not 
vice versa, because spiritual influx into the natural principle takes place, but not natural 
infiux into the spiritual principle, nn. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9110, 
9111. That the truths of the Word and of the church ought first to be acknowledged, 
ftnd afterwards it is allowable to consult scientifics, but not vice versa, n. 6047. 

19i 



HEAVEN. 367, 368 

and since it was ordained from creation that tlie woman should 
be for the man, and the man for the woman, thus that the one 
should be the other's ; and since the love that it should be so is 
innate in both ; it follows, that there are marriages in the hea- 
vens as well as on earth. Marriages in the heavens, however, 
greatly differ from marriages on earth. AYhat, therefore, is the 
nature of marriages in the heavens, in what they differ from 
maiTiages on earth, and in what they agree, shall here be 
shown. 

367. In the heavens, maniage is the conjunction of two into 
one mind ; the nature of which conjunction shall be first ex- 
plained. The mind consists of two parts, one of which is called 
the understanding, and the other the will. When those two 
parts act in unity, they are then called one mind. In heaven, 
the husband acts as that part which is called the understanding, 
and the wife as that which is called the will. When this con- 
junction, which exists in the interiors, descends into the inferior 
parts that belong to the body, it is perceived and felt as love ; 
and the love thus felt is conjugial* love. From these truths it is 
evident, that conjugial love derives its origin fi'om the conjunc- 
tion of two individuals into one mind. This is termed, in heaven, 
dwelling together ; and it is said of such, that they are not two, 
but one. Therefore, in heaven, two married partners are not 
called two, but one angeL(^) 

368. That there should exist such a conjunction of the hus- 
band and wife in their inmost parts, which belong to their minds, 
results from creation itself For the man is born to be under the 
influence of intellect, thus, to think from the understanding ; but 
the woman to be under the influence of will, thus, to think from 
the will. This also is evident from the inclination, or connate 

(*) That it is unknown at this day what and whence conjugial love is, n. 272T. That 
conjugial love consists in willing what the other wills, thus mutually and reciprocally, 
n. 2731. That those who are grounded in conjugial love dwell together in their inmost 
principles of life, n. 2732. That there is a union of two ininds, and thus that from love 
they become one, nn. 10,163, 10,169. For the love of minds, which is spiritual love, is 
union, nn. 1394, 2057, 3939, 4018, 5807, 6195, 7031—7086, 7501, 10,130. 

* This word, conjugial, is not in common use in the Eiiglish language, which has 
adopted conjugal instead. Both are originally Latin, in which language they are writ- 
ten conjugialis^ and conjugalis. Though both the Latin words are equally classical, our 
Author, when speaking of what he denominates "conjugial love," has confined him- 
self to the use of the former. Only a very few instances of the use of the latter occur 
in all his works ; and then, as generally appears moi^t probable, by error of the press. 
The reason of his preference is doubtless to be found in their etymology. Conjugkdis 
is derived, through conjugium (marrkige, and conjux, — a married partner), from con- 
jungo, which signi'des to conjoin j whereas conjugalis is from coajugo, which signifies 
to yoke together. Now as a yoke carries with it the idea of compulsion and domination, 
which is abhorrent from all that our Author teaches of the genuine nature of marriage 
love ; whilst the idea of conjunction is in perfect harmony with it; it can be no matter 
of surprise that he preferred the term conjugialls to conjugalis. As, also, the original 
radical ideas remain in the words when anglicized by lopping oif their termination, 
most of our Author's translators have preferred to adopt the appropriate, though un- 
usual word, conjugial, instead of the less appropriate, though common word, conjugal. 
The superior softness of the former in sound, also, renders it more suitable in applica- 
tion to such a subject as Conjugial Love. For these reasons, the word conjugial ia 
retained in tlie present translation. — xV. 

195 



369, 370 HEAVEN. 



disposition, of each ; and likewise from their form. From their 
disj)osition^ it is seen, that the man acts from reason ; but the 
woman from affection : and from their form^ that the face of 
the man is more rough and less beautiful, his speech of deeper 
tone, and his body more robust ; whilst the face of the woman 
is smoother and fairer, her tone of voice more tender, and her 
body more delicate. There is a similar difference between the 
understanding and the will, or between thought and affection ; 
and also between truth and good, and between faith and love : 
for truth and faith have relation to the understanding, and good 
and love to the will. It is on this account, that, in the Word, 
by a youth and man, in the spiritual sense, is meant the under- 
standing of truth, and by a virgin and woman, the affection of 
good ; and also, that the church, by virtue of her affection foi 
good and truth, is called a woman and a virgin ; and further 
that all who are grounded in the affection of good are called 
virgins ; as in Rev. xiv. 4.(^) 

369. Every one, whether man or woman, enjoys understanding 
and will ; but still, in the man, the understanding predominates, 
and in the woman, the will ; and the character of the human 
being is determined by the predominating faculty. In marriages 
in the heavens, however, there is not any domination exercised 
by one party over the other ; for the will of the wife is also that 
of the husband, and the understanding of the husband is alsc 
that of the wife ; because the one loves to will and to think as 
the other does, and thus, to do so mutually and reciprocally ; the 
result of which is, their conjunction into one. This conjunction 
is actual ; for the will of the wife enters into the understanding 
of the husband, and the understanding of the husband into the 
will of the wife, more especially when they look each other in 
the face : for, as has often been stated above, in the heavens 
there is a communication of thoughts and affections ; and more 
especially does this exist between married partners, because they 
mutually love each other. From these statements may be seen, 
what is the nature of that conjunction of minds which constitutes 
marriage, and produces conjugial love, in the heavens ; namely, 
that it consists in the one partner's willing or desiring that what- 
ever is his or hers should be the other's, and in the reciprocal 
existence of such will or desire. 

370. It has been told me by the angels, that just in proportion 
as two married partners are united in such conjunction, they are 

{^) That young men, in the Word, signify the understanding of truth, or one that la 
Intelligent, n. 7668. That men {viri) have a like signification, nn. 158, 265, 749, 915, 
1007, 2517, 3134, 3236, 4823, 9007. That a woman signifies the atfection of good and ot 
truth, nn. 568, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994: also the church, nn. 252, 253, 749, 770: and that 
a wife also signifies the same, nn. 252, 253, 409, 749,770; with what difference, nn. 915. 
2517, 3236, 4510, 4822. That husband and wife, in the supreme sense, are predicatea 
of the Lord and of his conjunction with heaven and the cliurch, n. 7022. That a vir- 
gin signifies the affection of good, nn. 3067, 3110, 3179, 3189, 6731, 6742: and also the 
church, nn. 21.62, 3081, 39e3, 4638 6729, 6775, 6778. 

196 



HEAVEN. 370, 371 

in the onjovment of conjnglal love, and at tlie same time, and in 
the same proportion, of intelligence, wisdom, and happiness. The 
reason of this is, because the Divine Truth and the Divine Good, 
which are the sources of all intelligence, wisdom, and happiness, 
principally flow into conjugial love, and consequently, conjugial 
love is the actual plane for receiving the divine influx, for this 
reason, that it is, at the same time, the marriage of truth and 
good. For as it is a conjunction of understanding and will, it is 
also a conjunction of truth and good ; since the understanding 
receives the Divine Truth, and also is formed by truths, and the 
w^ill receives the Divine Good, and is also formed by goods : for 
what a man wills, is, to him, good, and what he understands, is, 
to him, truth : whence it amounts to the same thing, whether we 
say, the conjunction of understanding and will, or whether we 
say, the conjunction of truth and good. The conjunction of truth 
and good constitutes an angel, together with his intelligence, 
wisdom, and happiness ; for an angel is such, in proportion as 
good is conjoined in him with truth, and truth with good ; or, 
what amounts to the same, an angel is such, in propoii:ion as 
love is conjoined in him with faith, and faith with love. 

371. The reason that the Divine Sphere proceeding from tlie 
Lord flows principally into conjugial love, is, because thafc love 
descends from the conjunction of good and truth ; for, as just 
observed, whether we say, the conjunction of the understanding 
and the will, or, the conjunction of good and truth, it amounts to 
the same thing. The conjunction of good and truth derives its 
origin from the Lord's Divine Love towards all the inhabitants 
of heaven and earth. From the Divine LoA^e proceeds the Divine 
Good ; and the Divine Good is received by angels and by men 
in divine truths. The only receptacle of good is truth ; on which 
account, nothing that proceeds from the Lord and from heaven 
can be received by any one who is not in possession of truths. 
In proportion, therefore, as truths are conjoined in man with 
good, the man himself is conjoined with the Lord in heaven. 
Here, then, is the actual origin of conjugial love ; consequently, 
that love is the actual plane of the Divine Influx. This is the 
reason that, in heaven, the conjunction of good and truth is called 
the heavenly marriage, and that, in the Word, heaven is co]^.!- 
pared to a marriage, and is actually so called ; and that the Lor A 
is termed the bridegroom and husband, and heaven, together with 
the church, the bride and wife.(^) 

(*) That love truly conjugial derives its origin, cause, and essence, from the mamage 
of good and truth ; thus, that it is from heaven, nn. 2728, 2729. Of the angelic spirits, 
who have a perception whether there be a conjugial principle, from the idea of the con- 
iunction of good and truth, n. 10,756. That conjugial love is circumstanced altogether 
like the conjunction of good and truth, nn. 1904^ 2173, 2429, 2503, 3101, 3102, 3155^3179, 
3180, 4358, 54o7, 5S35, 9206, 9495, 9637. In what manner the conjunction of good and 
trutji is effected, and with whom, nn. 3334, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4358, 4364. 4368, 
6S65, 7623 — 7627, 9258. That it is not known what love truly conjugial is, except by 
those who are established in good and truth from the Lord", n. 10,171- That in the 

197 



872 — 374 HEAVEN. 

372. Good and trntli conjoined in an angel or a man are not 
two but one ; since good, then, belongs to truth, and truth to 
good. This conjunction is like that which exists, when a man 
thinks what he wills, and wills what he thinks ; for then the 
thought and the will constitute a one, thus one mind ; for the 
thought forms, or presents in a form, that which the will desires, 
and the will infuses into it delight. This, also, is the reason, 
that two married partners are not, in heaven, called two, but one 
angel. It is this, likewise, which is meant by these words of the 
Lord : ''''Have ye not read^ that He who made them from the 
heginning made them a male and a female^ and said^ For this 
coMse shall a man leave father and mother^ and shall cleave to 
his wife^ and they two shall he one flesh f Wherefore they are 
no more two^ hat one flesh. What^ therefore^ God hath joined 

together^ let not man put asunder. All men cannot receive 

this saying^ save they to whom it is given?'' — (Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6, 
11 ; Mark x. 6 — 9 ; Gen. ii. 24.) "What is here described, is the 
heavenly marriage in which the angels live, and, at the same 
time, the marriage of good and tnith ; and by man's being for- 
bidden to put asunder w^hat God hath joined together, is meant, 
that good is not to be separated from truth. 

373. From these truths may now be seen, whence love truly 
conjugial proceeds ; namely, that in those who are united in 
marriage, it is first formed in the mind, and that it descends 
thence, and is derived into the body ; where it is perceived and 
felt as love. For whatever is felt and perceived in the body 
derives its origin from man's spiritual part, since it proceeds 
from his understanding and will. These constitute the spiritual 
man ; and whatever descends from the spiritual man into the 
body, there shows itself under another form, but still remaining 
similar and unanimous ; as is the case with the soul and tlie 
body, and with the cause and the effect. (As may be manifest 
from what was stated and shown in the two Sections on Cor- 
respondence.) 

374. I once heard an angel describing love truly conjiigial, and 
its heavenly delights, to this effect : That it is the Divine Sphere 
of the Lord in heaven, which is the Divine Good and the Divine 
Truth, united in two individuals, but in such a manner, as not to 
be two, but one. He said, that two married partners, in heaven, 
are that love in form, because every one is his own good and his 
own truth, both with respect to his mind and his body ; for the 
body is the effigy of the mind, being formed after its likeness. 
He inferred from this, that the Divine Being is effigied in two 
individuals who are united in love truly conjugial ; and, since 
the Divine Being is effigied in them, that heaven is so likewise, 
since the universal heaven is the Divine Good and Divine Truth 

Word, by marriage is signified the marriage of good and truth, nn. 3132, 4434, 4885. 
That in love truly conjugial is the kincrdom of the Lord and heaven, n. 2737. 

198 



HEAVEN. 375 — 377 

proceeding from the Lord ; whence it is that all the elements of 
heaven are inscribed on that love, with beatitudes and enjoy- 
ments beyond the power of computation. He expressed the 
number by a w^ord which involved myriads of myriads. He 
wondered that the members of the church should know nothing 
of this subject, although the church is the Lord's heaven upon 
earth, and heaven is the marriage of good and truth. He said 
that he was astounded at the thought, that adultery is practised 
withm the church more than out of it, and is even confirmed as 
allowable, although the delight of it, in the spiritual sense, and 
thence in the spiritual world, is, in itself^ nothing but the delight 
of the love of filsity conjoined with evil ; which is infernal deligTit ; 
being diametrically opposite to the delight of heaven, which is that 
of the love of truth conjoined w^ith good. 

375. Every one knows, that two married partners, who love 
each other, are interiorly united, and that the essential thing in 
marriao-e is the union of minds. From this truth it mav be known, 
that such as is, inherently, the character of their minds, such is 
that of their union, and, also, such is that of the love existing 
between them. The mind is solely formed by truths and goods : 
for all things that exist in the universe have reference to good 
and tmth, and also to their conjunction : whence it results, that 
the union of minds is altogether such in quality as are the goods 
and truths by which they are formed: consequently, that tiie 
union of minds that are formed by genuine truths and goods is 
the most perfect. It is to be observed, tliat no two things mutually 
love each other more than truth and good ; on which account, 
from that love descends the love truly conjugiaL(^) Falsity and 
evil also love each other ; but this love is changed into hell. 

376. From what has now been stated respecting the origin . 
conjugial love, a conclusion may be drawn as to who are in the 
enjoyment of it, and who are not. It may be seen, that those 
are in the enjoyment of conjugial love, who, by the reception of 
divine truths, are grounded in Divine Good ; and that conjugial 
love is more genuine, so far as the truths, which are conjoined 
with good, are more genuine. It also foUows, since all the good 
which is conjoined with truths is from the Lord, that no one 
can be in the enjoyment of the love truly conjugial, unless he 
acknowledges the Lord and his Divinity; for without that ac- 
knowledgment, the Lord canuot enter by influx, and be conjoined 
with the truths that are possessed by man. 

377. I rom these remarks it is evident, that those are uot in the 

(*) That all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, have reference 
to good and truth, nn. 2451, 8U3G. -l^OO, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10,122. And to the coniunction 
cf both, n. 10,555. Tlia'. between good and trutli tliere is a marriage, nn. 1U94, 2173, 
2508. That good loves, and from love desires, truth, and its coniunction with itself, 
and that hence tiicy are in a perpetual tendeacy to conjunction, nn. 9206, 9207, 9-1^5. 
That the life of truth is from good, nn. 15S9, 1997, 2579, 4o70, 4ii96, 4097, 47ob, 4757, 
ASU, 5147, 9667. Tliat truth Ls tlic form of good, uh 8049, 3180, 4574, 9154. That truth 
ifl to good as water to bread, n. 4976. 

191) 



378, 379 HEAVEN. 

enjovment of conjiigial love wlio are immersed in falsities, aiic* 
not at all those who are immersed in falsities grounded in evil. 
With those, also, who are immersed in evil and thence in falsities, 
the interiors, which belong to the mind, are closed, wherefore 
there cannot exist any origin of conjngial love there : but below 
those interiors, in the external or natural man separate from the 
internal^ there exists a conjunction of falsity and evil, which is 
called the infernal marriage. It has been granted me to see 
the nature of the marriage that exists between persons who are 
immersed in falsities of evil, and which is called the infernal 
marriage. They talk with each other, and also ai'e connected 
from an impulse of lasciviousness ; but they inwardly burn 
against each other with deadly hatred, which is so great as to 
surpass all description. 

378. J^either can conjugial love exist between two persons oi 
different religions, because the truth of the one does not agree 
with the good of the other, and two dissimilar and discordant 
elements cannot make one raind out of two ; on which account, 
the origin of their love does not partake of any thing of a spiritual 
nature. If they live together in concord, it is only from natural 
causes.(^) On this account, in the heavens, marriages are con- 
tracted between parties who belong to the same society, because 
these are grounded in similar good and truth ; but not between 
parties who belong to diiferent societies. (That all in heaven 
who ai'e in the same society are grounded in similai' good and 
truth, and differ from those who ai*e in other societies, may be 
seen above, nn. 41, et seq.) This, also, was represented among 
the Israelites by their contracting marriages within theii* own 
tribes, and, specifically, within their own families, and not out 
of them. 

379. Neither can love truly conjugial exist between one hus- 
band and several wives : for this destroys its spiritual origin, 
which consists in the formation of one mind out of two ; conse- 
quently, it destroys the interior conjunction, which is that of 
good and truth, from which the very essence of conjugial love is 
derived. The marriage of a man with more than one wife, is like 
an undei^tanding divided among seveiul wills ; and like a man 
who is attached, not to one church, but to several ; in which case 
liis faith is drawn different ways, till it becomes none at alL The 
angels affirm, that to have a plurality of wives is utterly contrary to 
Divine Order ; and that they know this from several causes, among 
which, this is one : That as soon as they entertain the thought of 
marriage with more than one wife, they lose all sense of internal 
beatitude and heavenly happiness, and immediately become like 
persons intoxicated, because good is then disjoined in tliem from 
its own truth : and as the interiors tliat belong to their minds faB 

(') That marriages between those who are of different religions arc unlawful, o© 
•ocount of tlic nou-coiijunctiou of similar good and truth in tlio interiors, n. 8998. 

200 



HEAVEN. 379, 380 



into such a state on the mere thought of such a thing witli any 
intention, they perceive clearly, that marriage ^vith more than 
one wife would shut their internal, and, in place of conjugial love, 
would introduce the love of lasciviousness, which is a love that 
withdraws fi-oni heaven.(^) They say, further, that man with dif- 
ficulty comprehends this, because there are few who are grounded 
in genuine conjugial love ; and they who are not, know nothing 
whatever of the interior delight which is inherent in tliat love, 
but only of the delight of lasciviousness, which is turned into 
what is undelightful after persons of this character have lived a 
little time together ; whereas the delight of love truly conjugial 
not only lasts till old age in the world, but also becomes the 
delight of heaven after death, and is then filled with interior 
enjoyment, which is perfected to eternity. They stated, also, 
that the beatitudes of the love truly conjugial might be enumer- 
ated to the extent of several thousands, not one of which is known 
to man, nor can be comprehended by any individual who is not 
grounded in the marriage of good and truth derived from the Lord. 
380. The love of domination to be exercised by one party over 
the other completely banishes conjugial love and its heavenly 
delight: for, as observed above, conjugial love, and the delight 
belonging to it, consist in the circumstance, that the will of one 
is that of the other, and that such is their state mutually and 
reciprocally. The love of domination destroys this ; for the 
ruling party would have his or her will alone to be in the other, 
and none of the other's reciprocally in him or her ; whence there 
is nothing mutual between them, no communication of anj^ love 
and its delight with the other, and no reciprocal interchange; 
although such connnunication and interchange, with the con- 
junction thence resulting, ai'e what constitute that interior de- 
light, called beatitude, w^hieli exists in real niamage. The love 
of domination utterly' extinguishes this beatitude, and udth it, 
every thing celestial and spiritual belonging to that love, even 
to the abolishing of all knowledge of its existence ; and if such 
persons were told of it^ they would regard it as so contemptible, 
that on the mere mention of beatitude from such a source, they 
would either laugh or fly in a passion. When one party wills or 
loves what the other does, both enjoy liberty, for all liberty is 
the OiFsjjring of love : but where domination is assumed, neither 
eujoj'S liberty : one party is confessedly a slave ; and sc is the 

(") As hiisband aud wife owght to be one, and to dwell together in the inmost ground 
of their life ; and as they together constitute one angel iu heaven; therefore love truly 
conjugial cannot ezist between owe husband and several wives, nn. 1907, 2740. That 
to marry inoi'e wives than one at the same time is contrary to divine order, n. 10,837. 
That no marriage can exist but between one liusbatid and one wife, is clearly perceived 
by those who dwell in the Lord's celestial kiiigdora, nn. 865, 8246, l''961, 10,172. The 
reason i<i, because the angels there are in the marriage of good and truth, n. 3246. That 
the Israelitish nation were permitted to marry several wives, and to adjoin concubines 
to wives, but Christians are not so permitted: tlie reason was, because that nation were 
in externals without internals, but Christians mav be in ijiternals, thus in the marriage 
afg33d acd of truths nn. 3246, 4837, 8S0y. 

201 



381, 382 HEAVEN. 

ruling party too, because led as a slave by the lust of doniination. 
This, however, he cannot at all conceive, because he does not 
know what the liberty of heavenly love is. From what has been 
advanced above respecting the origin and essence of conjugial 
love, however, it may be known, that just in proportion as 
domination enters, the minds of the parties are not united, but 
divided. Domination subjugates ; and the mind that is subju- 
gated has afterwards no will at all, or else a contrary will : ii' 
there is no will, there is also no love ; if a contrary will, instead 
of love, there is hatred. The interiors of those who live in such 
a marriage, are in such mutual collision and combat, as ever 
exists between two opposites, however their exteriors may be 
restrained and kept quiet for the sake of peace. The collision 
and combat of their inteiiors display themselves openly after 
death. Then, for the most part, they meet; when they fight 
like hostile champions, mutually inflicting injuries as if they 
would tear each other to pieces : for they then act according to 
the state of their interioi^. It has sometimes been granted me 
to behold their battles and mutual injuries ; when I saw that, in 
some, they were full of revenge and cruelty. For, in the other 
life, the interioi^ of every one are set at liberty, and are no longer 
held under restraint by external considerations, connected with 
reasons that operate in the world : for every one is then seen to 
be such in quality as he interiorly is. 

381. There exists, with some, a certain resemblance of conjugial 
love, which, nevertheless, is not conjugial love, where the parties 
are not grounded in the love of good and truth, but is a love ap- 
pearing like it, grounded in various causes ; as, for instance, that 
they may be waited upon in the house ; that they may live in 
security, or in tranquillity, or in idleness ; or that they may be 
nursed in sickness and old age ; or to have their children, whom 
they love, taken care of With some, it is a state of constraint, 
occasioned by fear of the other party, or for their reputation, 
or of injuries : and with some it is induced by lasciviousness. 
Conjugial love diffei^, also, in the two maiTied pai^tners them- 
selves : it may exist, more or less, in one, and little, or not at all, 
in the other ; and as it may differ so widely, heaven may await 
the one, and hell the other. 

382. Genuine conjugial love prevails in the inmost heaven, 
because the angels of that heaven are eminently grounded in 
the marriage of good and truth ; and also, are eminently in the 
enjoyment of innocence. The angels of the inferior heavens are 
also in the enjoyment of conjugial love, but only so far as they 
are grounded in innocence : for conjugial love, regarded in itsell^ 
is a state of innocence; wherefoi^, between married partners 
who are grounded in conjugial love, there exist heavenly de- 
lights, which, as presented before their minds, are almost similar 
to such sports of innocence as are practised among little children ; 

202 



HEAVEN. 381, 382 

for there is notliing whicli does not impart delight to their 
minds ; since heaven, with its joy, flows into all the minutiie of 
their life. On this account, conjngial love is represented in 
heaven by the most beautiful objects. I have seen it repre- 
sented by a virgin of inexpressible beauty, encompassed by a 
bright cloud. It has been told me, that all the beautv that 
adorns the angels in heaven is derived from conjugial love. Tlie 
affections and thoughts w^hich proceed from it are represented 
by aurcB or atmospheres of the brightness of diamonds, and 
sparkling as with carbuncles and rubies; all attended with de- 
lightful sensations affecting the interiors of the angels' minds. 
In one word, heaven represents itself in conjugial love ; because 
heaven, w^ith the angels, consists in the conjunction of good and 
truth ; and this conjunction constitutes conjugial love. 

382." Marriao^es in heaven differ from marriasres on earth in 
this respect. Besides their other uses, marriages on earth are 
ordained for the procreation of offspring ; but not in heaven ; 
but there, in lieu of the procreation of offspring, there is a pro- 
creation of good and truth. The reason that this procreation there 
takes the place of the former, is, because marriage, in heaven, 
is the marriage of good and truth, as has been shown above ; in 
which marriage, the supreme objects of love are good and truth, 
and their conjunction ; wherefore these are what are propagated 
by marriages in heaven. It is on this account, that by nativities 
and generations, in the Word, are signified spiritual nativities 
and generations, which are those of good and truth ; by mother 
and father being signified the truth conjoined with good which 
procreates ; by sons and daughters, the truths and goods which 
are procreated; and by sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, the 
conjunctions of these ; and so in other instances.(') From these 
facts it is evident, that marriages in heaven are not like marriages 
on earth. In the heavens, nuptials are spiritual, and are not to 
be called nuptials, but conjunctions of minds originating in the 
marriage of good and truth ; but on earth they are nuptials, be- 
cause they are not only of the spirit, but also of the flesh : and 
as there are no nuptials in heaven, the two m.arried partners are 
not there called husband and wife, but, from the idea which the 
angels have of the conjunction of two minds into one, each is 
caV.ed by a word which signifies, what is each other's mutually 

C') That conceptions, births, nativities, and generations, signify spiritual concep- 
tions, &c., whicli are those of good and truth, or of love and faith, nn. 613, 1145, 
1155, 2020, 25S4, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 6239, 8042, 9325, (10,197). That hence, 
generation and nativity signify regeneration and re-birth by faith and love, nn. 5160, 
f)5y8, 9042, 9S45. That a mother signifies the church as to truth, thus also the truth of 
the church; a fother, the church as to good, thus also the good of the church, nn. 2691, 
2717, 3703, 5539, 8897. That sons signify the affections of truth, thus truths, nn. 489, 
491, 533, 2623, 3373, 4257, 8649, 9807. That daughters signify the affections of good, 
thus goods, nn. 489, 490, 491, 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6778, 9055. That a son-in-law 
Bignities truth associated to the affection of good, n. 2389. That a danghter-in-law sig- 
nifies good associated to its truth, n. 4813. 
* This number is repeated in the original. 



3-1 r> r> ^ ( 

and reciprocally. From these observations may be knowrij Iiow 
the Lord's words Tespecting nuptials (Luke xx/3o, 36) are to be 
understood.^ 

383. In what manner marriages are entered into in the heavens, 
it has also been granted me to see. Throughout heaven, those 
whose characters are similar are connected together in society, and 
those whose characters are dissimilar are parted asunder. Every 
heavenly society consists of angels of similar dispositions : like 
are drawn to like, not of themselves, but of the Lord. (See above, 
nn. 41, 43, et seq.) In the same manner, conjugial partners, whose 
minds are capable of being conjoined into one, are drawn to each 
other ; whence, at first sight, they love each other from their in- 
most soul, see themselves to be each other's conjugial partner, and 
engage in marriage. Hence all marriages in heaven are made by 
the Lord alone. They also hold a sacred festival on the occasion, 
which is celebrated in a numerous assembly ; the festivities diifer- 
ing in different societies. 

384. Marriages on earth, because they are the seminaries ol 
the human race, and of the angels of heaven also (for, as has 
been shown in its proper Section, the inhabitants of heaven are 
from the human race) ; because, likewise, they proceed from a 
spiritual origin, that is, from the marriage of good and truth ; 
and since, in addition, the Lord's Divine Proceeding principally 
flows into conjugial love ; are most holy in the estimation of the 
angels of heaven : and, on the other hand, adulteries, as being 
contrary to conjugial love, ai'e regarded by them as profane. 
For as, in marriages, the angels behold the marriage of good and 
truth, which constitutes heaven, so, in adulteries, they behold the 

* The Author here makes a distinction between marriaffe and miptials, which cannot 
easily be made in English. We have no word in English to express the entering into 
the state that he calls miptials^ but that which also expresses the entering into the state 
that he denominates marriage. Thus the expressions used in the English version of 
the passage of Luke to which he refers, and which, he intimates, relate to the state of 
nuptials.^ not that of real marriage.^ are "marry," and "given in marriage." In Latin, 
the terms are generally rendered " nubunt," and "tradere in nuptias." The last word 
is that from whicli we have our nvptials. As, then, in the passage of Luke, and the 
corresponding passages of Matthew and Mark, only carnal unions are spoken of, our 
Author here applies the Latin word there used to express them, and which is anglicized 
into nuptials, to carnal unions only ; of which, as he observes, there can be none ii 
heaven. (The word nuptials, however, in English, is cominoiily appUed only to thw 
mai^riage-solemnities, not to the marriage- state ; and its Latin original is so used by our 
Author, m other parts of his works,) In Latin, there are three other words which sig- 
nify the marriage-state ; — matrlrnonium, connubimn, and conjugixim ; the last of which 
is the term almost everywhere used by our Author, — doubtless because, including in its 
etymological signification the idea ot conjunction, which the others do not, it is best 
adapted to convey the spiritual ideas which he always has in view. 

For the further elucidation of this subject, including ample proofs that such marriages 
as are meant by oiir Author do exist in heaven, and that the Lord's answer to the 
Sadducees, contained in the passage above referred to in Luke, and the corresponding 
passages in Matthew and Mark, only relates to merely carnal connections, which, of 
course, cannot have place in heaven, it perhaps may be allowable, because useful, to 
refer to the work, by the writer of this note, entitled, " An Appeal in helialf of the 
Views of the Eternal World o.:i4 State, and the Doctrines of Faim and Life, held oy the 
New Church,'''' &:c. ; in Sect. VI. of which, all the objections that have been raised upon 
this subject, and against our Author's representations of heaven and hell iugeuc-a],ar« 
ftiJly considered. — N. 

201 



HEAVEN. 384, 385 

marriage of falsity and evil, which constitutes hell. On this 
account, when thej only hear adultery mentioned, they turn 
themselves awav ; which also is the reason, that wlien man 
commits adultery with delight, heaven is shnt against him ; and 
when heaven is closed to him, he no longer acknowledges the 
Divine Being, nor any thing belonging to the faith of the 
church.(^) That all the inhabitants of hell are in opposition to 
conjugial love, was given me to perceive from the sphere thence 
exhaling, which was like a perj)etual effort to dissolve and vio- 
late marriages ; from which it was made evident, that the de- 
light which reigns in hell is the delight of adultery, and that the 
delight of adultery is also the delight of destroying the conjunc- 
tion of good and truth, which is what constitutes heaven. It 
hence follows, that the delight of adnltery is an infernal delight 
completely opposite to the delight of marriage, which is a heaven- 
ly delight. 

385. There were certain spirits, who, from habit acquired in 
the life of the body, infested me with peculiar ingenuity. They 
eftected it by a gentle, and, as it were, undulatory kind of influx, 
such as is usually that of well-disposed spirits ; but I perceived 
that it included cunning and similar vices, to captivate and de- 
ceive. At length I entered into conversation with one of them, 
who, I was informed, when he lived in the world, had been a 
general ofiicer ; and as I perceived that a lascivious tendency 
lurked in his ideas of thought, I conversed with him on the sub- 
ject of marriage. I used the spuitual sort of speech accompanied 
by representati\es, which fully express the sense intended, with 
many accompaniments, in a moment. He said, that when he 
lived in the body, he had accounted adulteries as nothing. But 
it was given me to rej)ly, that adulteries are wicked, although 
they aj^pear to such as himself, from the delight that they took in 
them, and from the persuasion thence inspired, not to be of such 
a nature — in fact, to be allowable. I observed, that he might be 
convinced of their wickedness by the consideration, that marriages 
J 'd the seminaries of the human race, and thence, also, of the 
1 ingdom of heaven, and therefore on no account to be violated, 
l:at to be esteemed holy; as also, from the consideration, which 
he ought to be aware of, as being in the other life, and in a state 
of perception, that conjugial love descends from the Lord through 
heaven, and that from this love, as its parent, is derived mutual 
love, which is the strengthening bond of heaven ; and, in ad- 
dition, from the fact, that when adulterers only approach to the 

(") That adulteries are profane, nn. 9861, 10,174. That heaven is closed against adul- 
terers, E. 2750. That those who have perceived delight in adulteries, cannot enter into 
heaven, nn, 539, 2783, 2747, 274S, 2749, 2751, 10,175. That adulterers are unmerciful, 
and without a religious principle, nn. 824, 2747, 2748. That the ideas of adulterers are 
filthy, nn. 2747, 27'4S. That in the other life they love filth, and are in such hells, uiu 
2755, 5394, 5722. That bv adulteries, in the Word, are sicrnifled the adulterations of good, 
«nd br whoredoms the perversions of truth, nn. 2466, 2729, 8399, 4865, 8904, 10,648. 

205 



386, 387 HEAVEN. 

vicinity of lieavenly societies, they are made sensible of their 
own stench, and cast themselves headlong down towards hell. 
I further observed, that at least he might know, that to violate 
marriages is contrary to the divine laws, and to the civil laws of 
all states, as well as contrary to the genuine light of reason, be- 
cause it is contrary to all order, both divine and human : with 
more to the same effect. But he replied, that he had no such 
thoughts, while in the life of the body. He wished to reason as 
to whether it was so. But he was told, that truth does not ad- 
mit of reasonings, for they favor the delights of the reasoner, 
thus his evils and falsities ; and that he ought first to think ol 
the considerations that had been advanced, because they were 
true : It was also urged upon him, from that principle so w^ell 
known in the world, — that no one ought to do to another what 
he would not like another to do to him, — to consider, if any one 
had deceived in that manner his own wife, whom he loved, as 
every man loves his wife in the beginning of their marriage, 
whether, speaking while he was incensed with anger on the occa- 
sion, he would not himself have expressed detestation of adultery, 
and, being a man of strong mind, would not have confirmed him- 
self more than others in the belief of its criminality, even to the 
extent of condemning it to hell. 

386. It has been shown me, in what manner the delights of 
conjugial love advance in their progress towards heaven, and the 
delights of adultery in their progress towards hell. The pro- 
gression of the delights of conjugial love towards heaven, was 
effected by entering into beatitudes and felicities continually 
more numerous till they become innumerable and ineffable ; and 
the more interiorly they advanced, into still more innumerable 
and ineffable ones, till they reached the very beatitudes and 
felicities of the inmost heaven, or the heaven of innocence ; and 
all with the most perfect freedom : for all freedom proceeds from 
love, and thus the most perfect freedom from conjugial love, 
that being heavenly love itself But the progression of adultery 
was towards hell, and, by degrees, to the lowest of all, where 
nothing exists but what is direful and horrible. Such is the lot 
which awaits adulterers after their life in the world. By adul- 
terers are meant those who find what is delightful in adulteries 
and what is not delightful in marriage. 



OF THE OCCUPATIONS OF THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 

387. The occupations that exist in the heavens cannot be 
enumerated, nor specifically described, but only admit of some- 
thing being stated respecting them of a general nature ; for they 
are innumerable, and vary, also, according to the offices of the 
206 



HEAVEN. 388—390 

vari< >us societies Every society discharges its peculiar office : 
for as the societ'es are distinctly arranged according to the goods 
by which they are distinguished (see above, n. 41), they are also 
arranged according to the uses which they perform ; since the 
goods which prevail with all the inhabitants of heaven are goods 
in act, which are uses. Every one, there, performs some use ; 
for the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses.(*) 

388. There are in heaven, as on earth, various administi-ations : 
for there exist there ecclesiastical affairs, civil affairs, and domestic 
ones. That there exist there ecclesiastical affairs, is manifest 
from what was stated and shown above respecting Divine Wor- 
ship, nn. 221 — 227. That there exist there civil affairs, is plain 
from what was advanced respecting Governments in Heaven, 
nn. 213 — 220. And that there exist there domestic affairs, from 
what has been detailed respecting the Habitations and Mansions 
of the Angels, nn. 183 — 190 ; and respecting Marriages in 
Heaven, nn. 366 — 380. It hence follows, that many occupationg 
and administrations exist within every heavenly society. 

389. All things in heaven are instituted according to Divine 
Order, which is everywhere maintained by administrations dis- 
charged by angels ; such affairs as relate to the general good or 
use being administered by the wiser angels, and such as relate 
to any particular good or use by those less wise ; and so pro- 
gressively. Those who discharge them are arranged in subor- 
dination, exactly as the uses themselves are subordinated in the 
arrangements of Divine Order. It hence results, that dignity is 
attached to every occupation according to the dignity of its use. 
No angel, however, arrogates the dignity to himself, but ascribes 
it all to the use ; and as the use is the good which he performs, 
and all good is from the Lord, he gives it all to the Lord. He, 
therefore, who thinks of honor as due to himself and thence to 
the use performed by him, and not to the use performed by him 
and thence to himself, cannot fill any office in heaven ; because 
he looks away from the Lord, regarding himself in the first place 
and use in the second. When use is mentioned, the Lord is 
meant, also ; since, as just observed, use is good, and good is 
from the Lord. 

390. From these observations may be inferred what is the 
nature of the subordinations that exist in heaven ; namely ; that 
in proportion as any one loves, esteems, and honors, any use, 
he also loves, esteems, and honors, the person to whom that use 
is adjoined : and also, that the person is loved, esteemed, and 
honored, in proportion as he does not arrogate tlie use to him- 

(») That the kingdom of the Lord is a kingdom of uses, nn. 454, 696, 1 103, 3645, 4054, 
7038. That to serve the Lord is to perform uses, n. 7038. That, in the other life, all must 
perform uses, n. 1103. Even the wicked and infernal; but in what manner, n. 696. 
That all are such as are the uses which they perform, nn. 4054, 6815 ; illustrated, n. 
7088. That angelic blessedness consists in the goods of charity, thus in performiug 
Uses, n. 454. 

207 



390, 391 HEAVEN. 

self, but ascribes it to the Lord ; for it is in this proportion that 
he is wise, and that the uses which he performs are performed 
from a good principle. Spiritual love, esteem, and honor, are 
nothing but love, esteem, and honor for use in the person who 
performs it ; and the honor of the person is derived from the use, 
and not that of the use from the person. He, also, who looks at 
men under the influence of spiritual truth, regards them in no 
other manner : for he sees that one man is like another, whether 
stationed in great dignity or in little, the difference being solely in 
their wisdom ; and wisdom consists in loving use, consequently, 
in loving the good of our fellow-citizens, of the society to which 
we belong, of our country, and of the church. Love to the Lord, 
also, consists in the same, since all the good which constitutes 
the good of use is from Him : and so, likewise, does love towards 
our neighbor, since the good that is to be loved in our fellow-cit- 
izen, in our society, in our country, and in the church, and which 
i§ to be done to them, is our neighbor.(^) 

391. All the societies in the heavens are distinctly arranged 
according to the uses which they minister, since they are dis- 
tinctly arranged according to the various kinds of good in which 
they are grounded (as stated above, nn. 41, et seq.) ; and those 
goods are goods in act, or goods of charity, which are uses. 
There are societies, whose occupations consist in having the care 
of infants. There are other societies whose occupation it is to 
instruct and educate them as they grow up. There are others, 
that, in like manner, instruct and educate boys and girls that 
have acquired a good disposition from the education they had 
received in the world, and who thence go to heaven. There are 
others, that teach the simple good who come from the Christian 
world, and lead them into the way to heaven. There are others, 
that discharge the same ofiice to the various classes of Gentiles. 
There are others, that protect novitiate spirits, who are such as 
are newly arrived from the world, from the infestations proceed- 
ing from evil spirits. There are some angels, also, who attend 
upon those who are in the lower earth ; and there are some who 
are present with those in hell, who so restrain their violence, as 
to prevent them from torturing each other beyond the prescribed 
limits. There likewise are some who attend upon those who are 
being resuscitated from the dead. In general, the angels of 

(') That to love one's neighbor is not to love his person, but to love that which apper- 
tains to him, and which constitutes liim, nn. 5025, 10,336. That those who love the 
person, and not what appertains to the man, and which constitutes him, love equally 
an evil man and a good man, n. 3820 : and that they do good alike to the evil and to 
the good, wlien yc^. to do good to the evil is to do evil to the good, wliich is not to love 
flic neiglibor, m\. 3820, 6703, 8120. The judge who punishes the evil that they may 
be amended, and to prevent the good being contaminated and injured by them, loves 
his neighbor, nn. 3820, 8120, 8121. That every man and society, also a man's country 
and the church, and, in a universal sense, the kingdom of the Lord, are one's neigl^ 
bor; and that to do good to them from the love of good according to the quality oil 
their state, is to love one's neighbor ; thus their good, which is to be consiJted, is 
one's nciurhbor, un. 65I8— 6S24, 8122. 

208 



HEAVEN. 392, 393 

eveiy society are sent on missions to men, to guard them, and 
to withdraw them from evil affections and the thoughts thence 
originating, and to inspire them with good affections, so far as 
they will freely receive them ; and by means of such good affec- 
tions, they also govern the deeds or works of men, removing, as 
far as possible, evil intentions. When the angels are present 
with men, they dwell, as it were, in their affections, and are near 
to the man, in proportion as he is grounded in good derived from 
truths ; but are more remote, in proportion as he is remote from 
good in his life.(^) But all these occupations of the angels are 
functions performed by the Lord through them as instruments ; 
for the angels do not discharge them of themselves, but from the 
Lord. It is on this account, that by angels in the Word, in its 
internal sense, are not meant angels, but some attribute or func- 
tion of the Lord ; and it is from the same cause that angels, in 
"lie Word, are called gods.(*) 

392. These occupations of the angels are their general ones ; 
b'lt to every angel is assigned his own in particular. For every 
general use is composed of innumerable others, that are called 
mediate, ministering, and subservient uses. All and each of 
these are co-ordinated and subordinated according to Divine 
Order, and, taken together, they constitute and perfect the gen 
eral use, which is the common good. 

393. Those are appointed to ecclesiastical offices in heaven, 
who, while in the world, had loved the Word, and, from desire, 
had sought in it for truths, not with a view to honor and gain, 
but with a view to the uses of life, both of themselves and of 
others. These, according to their love and desire of use, are 
there in the enjoymeilt of illumination, and of the light of wis- 
dom ; which, also, they acquire from the Word as it exists in 
heaven, where it is not natural in its form, as in the world, but 
spiritual. (See above, n. 259.) These discharge the office of 
preachers ; and in heaven, according to Divine Order, those fill 
the superior stations, who excel the others in wisdom derived 
from illumination. Those fill civil offices, who, while in the 
w^orld, had loved their country and the common good more than 
their private advantage, and had done what w^as just and right 
from the love of justice and rectitude. So far as these, from 
the desire of their love, had inquired into the laws of justice, 



(') Of the angels attendant on infants, and afterwards on children, and thus succes ■ 
sively, n. 2303. That man is raised from the dead by the ministry of angels, from ex- 
perience, nn. 168 — 189. Tliat angels are sent to those who are in the hells, to prevent 
their tormenting each other beyond measure, n. 967. Of the kind offices performed by 
anjrcls to men who come into the other life, n. 2131. That spirits and angels are at- 
tendant on all men, and that man is led by spirits and angels from the Lord, n-. 50, 
697, 2796, 2887, 2888, 5847—5866, 5976—5993, 6209. That the angels have dominion 
over evil spirits, n. 1755. 

(*) That bv angels, in tho Word, is signified something divine from the Lord, nn. 
1925, 2821, 3039j 4085, 6280, 8192. That angels, in the Word, are called gods, from the 
reception of divine truth and good from the Lord, nn. 4295, 4402, 8192, 8'301. 

14 209 



394, 395 HEAVEN. 

and had become intelligent in consequence, they possess a ca- 
pacity for administering offices in heaven ; and they adminis- 
ter, accordingly, such offices as belong to that station or degree 
which corresponds with their intelligence, which is then in the 
same degree as their love for the common good. There are, 
moreover, in heaven, so many offices and administrations, and 
so many kinds of employment also, that they cannot be enumer- 
ated on account of their abundance, those in the world being 
but few respectively. All the inhabitants, how numerous so- 
ever, feel delight in their works and labors derived from the 
love of use, and no one performs them from the love of self or 
of gain. Neither is any one influenced by the love of gain for 
the sake of his living, since all the necessaries of life are given 
them gratis : they are lodged gratis, they are clothed gratis, and 
they are fed gratis. From all these facts it is evident, that they 
who have loved themselves and the world more than they have 
loved to be of use, have no inheritance in heaven : for his own 
love or affection remains with every one after his life in the 
world, nor is it extirpated to eternity. (See above, n. 363.) 

394. Every one in heaven has his proper work to perform ac- 
cording to correspondence, the correspondence not being with 
the work, but with the use of any one's w^ork (see above, n. 
112) ; and all things that exist have their correspondence. (See 
n. 106.) When any one in heaven is engaged in his occupation, 
or in some work corresponding to the use of his occupation, he 
is in a state of life altogether similar to that in which he was, 
when so engaged, in the world ; for what is spiritual and what 
is natural act as one by correspondences. There is, however, 
this diflerence ; that the delight which he now feels is of a more 
interior kind, because he is in a spiritual state of life, which 
is an interior kind of life, and is therefore more receptive of 
lieavenly beatitude. 



OF HEAVENLY JOY AND HAPPINESS. 

395. What heaven and heavenly joy are, is scarcely known 
to any one at the present day. They who have reflected either 
on the one or on the other, have conceived so general and gross 
an idea of them, as hardly amounts to any idea at all. I have had 
excellent opportunities of knowing what notions are entertained 
on these subjects, from the spirits who pass from the world into 
the other life ; for when left to themselves, as if they were still 
in the world, they think in the same manner. The reason that 
men do not know what heavenly joy is, is founded in the cir- 
cumstance, that they who ha> e reflected on it, have formed their 
conclusions respecting it from the external joys that are j>roper 
210 



HEAVEN. 396, 397 

to the natural man, and have been ignorant of what the internal 
or spiritual man is, and, consequently, of what constitutes the 
enjoyment and beatitude thereto belonging ; wherefore, should 
chey be told, by such as are in the enjoyment of spiritual and 
internal delight, what, and of what nature, heavenly joy is, they 
would not comprehend it. The information, to be understood, 
would require the presence of ideas which to them are unknown, 
and would, consequently, rank among the things which the nat- 
ural man would reject. IN'evertheless, every one may be aware, 
that when a person leaves the external or natural man, he comes 
into tlie internal or spiritual man ; from which circumstance it 
may be known, that heavenly delight is an internal and spiritual 
delight, not an external and natural one ; and that, as being in- 
ternal and spiritual, it is of a more pure and exquisite nature, and 
has a power of affecting the interiors of man, which are those ot 
his soul or spirit. From these considerations alone, every one 
may conclude, that a man experiences such delight in the other 
life, as had been that of his spirit in this ; and that the delight 
of the body, which is called carnal pleasure, is, respectively, not 
heavenly. For that which exists in the spirit of man, when he 
leaves the body, remains with him after death ; for man then 
lives as a spirit. 

396. All delights flow from love ; for what a man loves, he 
feels delightful; and no one can experience delight from any 
other origin. The delights of the body or the tlesh all flow 
from the love of self and the love of the world, which also are 
the sources of concupiscences and of their pleasures : but the 
delights of the soul or of the spirit all flow from love to the 
Lord and love towards the neighbor, which also are the sources 
of the affections of good and truth, and of interior enjoyments. 
These loves, with their delights, enter by influx from the Lord 
and from heaven by an internal way, and thus come from above, 
and affect the interiors ; but the former loves, with theu^ delights, 
enter by influx from the flesh and from the world by an external 
way, and thus come from beneath, and affect the exteriors. In 
proportion, therefore, as those two loves of heaven are received, 
and their affecting influence is experienced, the interiors, which 
belong to the soul or spirit, are opened, and their aspect is turned 
away from the world towards heaven ; but in proportion as those 
two loves of the world are received, and their affecting influence 
is experienced, the exteriors are opened, which are those of the 
body and the flesh, and their aspect is turned from heaven 
towards the world. As these loves, of either kind, enter by 
influx and are received, their delights enter at the same time, 
the delights of heaven flowing into the interiors, and the delights 
of the world into the exteriors ; for, as just observed, all delight 
is the offspring of love. 

397. Heaven in itself, is of such a nature, as to be full of de- 

211 



398, 39? HEAVEN. 

liglits, so completely, that, viewed in itself, it is nothing but 
beatitude and delight. For the Divine Good proceeding from 
the Lord's Divine Love constitutes heaven, both in general, and 
in particular, with every inhabitant ; and the Divine Love con- 
sists in willing the well-being and happiness of all, from inmost 
grounds, and in full perfection. On this account, whether you 
mention heaven, or heavenly joy, it is all one. 

398. The delights of heaven are ineffable, and they are also 
innumerable : but innumerable as they are, not one of them can 
be either known or believed by a person who only has a relish 
for the delights of the body or of the flesh ; because, as just ob- 
served, the aspect of the interiors of such a person is turned 
away from heaven towards the world, and thus they look back- 
wards. For a person who is wholly immersed in bodily or carnal 
pleasures, or, what amounts to the same, in the love of self and 
of the world, feels no delight but in honor, in gain, and in the 
voluptuous pleasures of the body and the senses ; and these so 
extinguish and suffocate interior delights, which are those of 
heaven, as to destroy all belief in their existence. Such a per- 
son, therefore, would be exceedingly astonished, were he only 
told that any delights can exist when those of honor and gain 
ai'e removed ; and still more, were he informed, that the delights 
of heaven, which succeed in place of the former, are innumerable, 
and of such a nature, that the delights of the body and the flesh, 
which are chiefly those of honor and gain, cannot be compared 
to them. The reason is now evident, why it is not known what 
heavenly joy is. 

399. How great the delight of heaven is, may appear from 
this circumstance alone ; that it is delightful to all who are there 
to communicate their enjoyments and beatitudes to each other ; 
and all the inhabitants of heaven being of this character, it is 
plain how immense the delight of heaven must be : for there 
exists, in the heavens, a communication of all with every indi- 
vidual, and of every individual with all (as is shown above, n. 
268). Such communication flows from the two loves of heaven, 
which, as has been stated, are love to the Lord and love towards 
the neighbor ; and it is the nature of these loves to communicate 
their delights to others. The reason that love to the Lord is of 
such a nature, is, because the Lord's love is the love of commu- 
nicating all that He has to all His creatures; for He desires the 
happiness of all : and a similar love prevails in the individuals 
who love Him, because the Lord is in them. It is from this 
ground that the angels mutually communicate their delights to 
each other. That love towards the neighbor is of such a nature 
also, will be seen in what follows. From these observations it 
may appear, that it is the nature of those loves to communicate 
their delights. [N'ot so the loves of self and of the world. The 
love of self abstracts and takes away all their delight from otlierp, 

212 



HEAVEN. V 399, 400 

and appropriates it to self, for it entertains good will to self 
alone ; and, nnder the influence of the love of the world, men 
would have their neighbor's possessions to be their own. Thus 
it is the nature of these loves to destroy the delights enjoyed by 
others : when those who are under their influence communicate, 
it is for the sake of themselves, not of others ; and thus, as re- 
gards others, except so far as the delights of those others are 
present with, or resident in, themselves, they do not communi- 
cate, but destroy. That the loves of self and of the world, when 
they have the supremacy, are of such a nature, it has often been 
granted me to perceive by actual experience. Whenever any 
spirits, who had been immersed in these loves while they lived 
as men in the world, came near me, my sense of delight receded 
and vanished ; and it has also been told me, that if such spirits 
only approach any heavenly society, the delight of those who 
compose it is diminished, precisely according to the degree of 
their presence : and, what is wonderful, the evil spirits are then 
in' the enjoyment of their delight. The nature of the state of 
the spirit of such a man while in the body, was thence made evi- 
dent to me ; for it is then similar to what it is after his separa- 
tion from the body ; nauiely, that he longs for, or covets, the 
enjoyments or goods of others, and that, so far as he obtains 
them, he feels delight himself. From these facts may be seen, 
that it is the nature of the loves of self and of the world to de- 
stroy the joys of heaven ; consequently, that they are diametri- 
cally opposite to the heavenly loves, the nature of which is, to 
communicate their joys. 

400. It is, however, to be observed, that the delight experi- 
enced by those who are immersed in the loves of self and of the 
world, when they approach to any heavenly society, is the de- 
light of their own lust ; and is, consequently, diametrically oppo- 
site to the delight of heaven. They come into the delight of 
their own lust on the privation and removal of heavenly delight 
among those in the heavenly society, ^ot so when such priva- 
tion and removal do not take place : then they cannot approach, 
because, so far as they do, they are seized with distress and pain ; 
on which account, they seldom venture to go near. This, also, 
it has been granted me to know by many experimental observa- 
tions, of which I will mention a few particulars. 

The spirits who have recently passed from the world into the 
other life desire nothing more earnestly than to be admitted 
vnto heaven. This is the wish of almost all, supposing that, to 
<jnjoy heaven, nothing more is necessary than to be admitted 
and received within its precincts. Desiring it so earnestly, they 
are led, in consequence, to some society of the ultimate heaven. 
On approaching the first threshold of that heaven, those who 
are immersed in the love of self and of the world begin to be 
distressed, and to be so inwardly tortured, that they feel hell in 

213 



400, 401 HEAYEN. 

themselves latiier than heaven ; wherefore they cast themselves 
headlong down, and find no rest till they are in hell among their 
hke. It has also frequently happened, that such spirits desired 
to know what heavenly joy is, and, v/hen they heard that it is 
seated in the interiors of the angels, wished to have it commu- 
nicated to themselves. This was done accordingly; for what- 
ever a spirit who is not yet either in heaven or in hell desires, is 
granted him, if conducive to any good purpose. On the com- 
munication being made, however, they began to feel torture, 
which prevailed to such a degree, that they did not know into 
what posture to squeeze their bodies through the violence of the 
pain : I saw them thrust their heads dowm to their feet, and 
cast themselves on the ground, where they writhed about in 
orbicular convolutions after the manner of a serpent ; the whole 
being produced by their interior anguish. Such was the effect 
of the delight of heaven upon those who cherish the delights 
proceeding from the love of self and of the world : the reason 
is, because those loves and the loves of heaven are perfect oppo- 
sites ; and when one opposite acts upon the other, such pain 
is the result. Since, also, the delight of heaven enters by an 
internal way, and flows into a delight which is the reverse o1 
itself, it violently bends the interiors, which are the seat of the 
latter delight, the contrary way, thus into a direction opposite 
to their own ; and this is what produces such torments. The 

f round of the contrariety is, that, as stated above, love to the 
(Ord and love towards the neighbor desire to communicate al. 
they possess to others, for this constitutes their delight ; whereas 
the love of self and the love of the world desire to abstract what 
they possess from others, and to appropriate it to themselves ; 
and so far as they succeed in doing so, they are in the enjoyment 
of their delight. 

From these facts may also be known, what is the cause of the 
separation between hell and heaven. All the inhabitants of hell, 
when they lived in the world, had been immersed in the mere 
delights of the body and the flesh, derived ft-om the love of self 
and of the world ; whereas all the inhabitants of heaven, when 
they lived in the world, had been attached to the delights of the 
soul and the spirit, derived from love to the Lord and love to- 
wards the neighbor. These loves being contraries, heaven and 
hell are, consequently, in complete separation from each other ; 
and to such an extent is the separation cari-ied, that a spirit in 
hell dares not so much as put forth thence a finger, nor raise out 
of it the top of his head ; for on his doing either the one or the 
other ever so little, he feels torture and anguish. This, likewise, 
I have often witnessed. 

401. A man who is immersed in the love of self and of the 
world, feels, so long as he lives in the body, the delight proceed- 
ing from them, and finds enjoyment, also, in all the pleasures 
214 



HEAVEN. 401, 402 

which thence derive their origin. But a man who is grounded 
in love to God and in love towards his neighbor, does not, so 
long as he lives in the body, manifestly feel the delight proceed- 
ing from them, and from the good aifections which thence derive 
their origin, but only a sense of beatitude that is almost imper- 
ceptible, because it lies hidden and stored up in his interiors, 
and is veiled over by the exteriors that belong to the body ; 
whilst it is deadened, also, by the cares of the world. But the 
states of the two classes are completely changed after death. 
Then, the delights of the love of self and of the world are turned 
into painful and direful sensations, being such as are called hell- 
fire ; and, occasionally, into filthy and vile objects correspond- 
ing to those pleasures ; which, hovrever, (wonderful to relate !) 
are then delightful to them. But the obscure delight, and 
almost imperceptible sense of beatitude, which abode in those 
in the world who were grounded in love to God and in love to- 
wards their neighbor, are then turned into the delight of heaven, 
which is rendered perceptible and sensible in all manner of ways. 
For that beatitude which lay hidden and stored up in their inte- 
riors while they lived in the world, is then revealed, and is 
brought forth to manifest sensation ; for they are then in the 
spirit, and that delight was the delight of their spirit. 

402. All the delights of heaven are conjoined with uses, and 
are inherent in them, because uses are the good works of love 
and charity, in the practice of which the angels live ; on which 
account, every one enjoys delights of such a nature as are the 
uses he performs, and in a degree proportioned to his affection 
for use. That all the delights of heaven are delights of use, may 
also appear with certainty from a comparison drawn from the 
five bodily senses in man. To every sense is given a delight 
according to its use: the sight has its proper delight, and the 
hearing its proper delight ; and so have the smell, the taste, and 
the touch. The sio:ht draws its delight from the beauties of color 
and form ; the hearing, from harmonious sounds ; the smell, from 
agreeable odors ; and the taste, from savory viands. The uses 
which all the senses, respectively, perform, are known to those 
who investigate the subject, and more fully to those who are 
acquainted with their correspondences. The sight has such a 
delight attached to it, on account of the use which it performs to 
the understanding, which is the internal sight. The hearing is 
attended by such a delight, on account of the use which it ad- 
ministers both to the understanding and to the will, by affording 
the means of hearkening and attention. The smell has such a 
delight connected with it, on account of the use which it con- 
tributes both to the brain and to the lungs. The taste is united 
with such a delight, on .account of the use which it renders to the 
stomach, and thence to the whole body, by disposing it to take 
nourishment. The conjugial delight, whici is a purer and more 

215 



. 403—405 iiEAVEN. 

exquisite deliglit of touch, surpasses all the others on account of 
its use, which is the procreation of the human race, and thence of 
the angels of heaven. These delights are rendered inherent in 
those organs of sense by an influx from heaven, where every 
deliglit is the delight of use, and exists according to it. 

403. There were some spirits who imagined, from having im- 
bibed such an opinion in the world, that heavenly happiness 
consists in a life without occupation, and in being waited on, 
v/hile taking their ease, by others. But they were told, that 
ha]3piness could not possibly consist in resting, unoccupied ; for 
if it did, every one would desire to take away the happiness of 
others to promote his own ; and when all desired to do so, none 
could obtain their desire. It \tas observed to them further, that 
such a life would not be an active but an idle one, the subjects of 
which would fall into a state of torpor ; whereas, as they might 
easily know, without activity of life there cannot be happiness 
of life, and that, in an active life, rest from occupation is only 
resorted to for the sake of recreation, that the pei'son might return, 
v/ith fresh vigor, to the activity of his life. It was afterwards 
shown them by numerous evidences, that the angelic life consists 
in performing the good works of charity, which are uses, and that 
the angels find all their happiness in use, from use, and according 
to it. In order that they who had the idea that heavenly joy 
consists in living without occupation, inhaling eternal joy in a 
state of idleness, might be made ashamed of such notions, it was 
given them to perceive what the nature of such a life is ; when 
they were convinced that it is of a most melancholy description, 
and that, all joy thus perishing, they would feel for it, in a little 
time, only disgust and loathing. 

404. Some spirits w^ho thought themselves better informed 
than others, observed, that their belief, in the world, had been 
that heavenly joy consists in nothing else but praising and glori- 
fying God, and that such was the active life of heaven. But 
they were told, that praising and glorifying God, is not such an 
active life as is meant by that expression ; and, besides, that God 
has no need of being jDraised and glorified ; but that His will is, 
tliat His subjects should perform uses, and thus do the good 
works which are called the goods of charity. Those spirits, 
however, could not conceive any idea of heavenly joy, but oi 
slavery instead, as connected with the good works of cliarity. 
But the angels testified, that the performance of those works is 
attended with the most perfect freedom, being done fi*om interior 
aftection, and conjoined with imspeakable enjoyment. 

405. Nearly all who enter the other life imagine, that a similar 
hell, or a similar heaven, awaits every one who goes to either ; 
when, nevertheless, the truth is, that there are infinite varieties 
and divei'sities in each, and that neither a hell nor a heaven alto- 
gether similar is e "er allotted to one person as to another ; juat 

216 



f£EAVEX. 4:05. 406 



as tliere never is found one man, spirit, or angel, exactly like 
another, not even in the lacs. AVhen I only thought of two 
being exactly similar or equal to each other, the angels were 
shocked at the idea, observing, that every thing that is a one, or 
a whole, is formed by the harmonious accordance of various 
parts, and that the one or whole is such in quality as that ac- 
cordance is : and that it is in this manner that every society of 
heaven forms one whole, and that all the societies of heaven 
form one whole collectively ; which effect is produced by the 
Lord alone, through love as the medium.O) Uses in the heavens 
exist, in Uke manner, with all possible variety and diversity, 
and the use of one angel is never exactly similar and the same 
as the use of another ; consequently, neither is his capacity of 
enjoyment. Much more are the delights of every one's use 
innumerable, all which are similarly various, but still joined 
together in such an order as mutually to regard each other ; 
just as do the uses of every member, organ, and viscus, in the 
body, and, still more, those of every vessel and fibre in each 
member, organ, and viscus ; all of which, both collectively and 
individually, are so connected together, as to regard their own 
good in another, and, consequently, the good of each in all, and 
of aU in each. From this universal and individual mutual regard, 
they act as one. 

406- I have oft^n conversed with spirits who had newly come 
from the world respecting the state of eternal life. I observed, 
that it was important for them to know, who is the Lord of the 
kingdom into which they had entered, what is the nature of His 
government, and what its foim ; for as nothing is more necessary 
for travellers in the world, on passing into another kingdom, than 
to know who and of what character is the king, what the nature 
of his government, and other particulars relating tx) that kingdom ; 
much more was it necessary to possess such knowledge in the 
kuigdom in which they now were, in which they were to live to 
eternity. They ought, therefore, to know, that the Lord is the 
king who governs heaven, and the whole universe, since He who 
governs the one, governs the other ; thus that the kingdom in 
which they now were is the Lord's, and that the laws of this 
kingdom are eternal truths, all which are founded in that primary 
law, that its subjects are to love the Lord above aU things, and 
their neighbor as themselves ; and in fact, that now, if they wished 
to be like the angels, they ought to go still farther, and love their 

(*) That every whole eousists of various things, and hence receives form, and quality, 
3g\d perfection, according to the quality of tiieir harmony and agreement, nn. 457, 3241, 
8003. That there is an infinite variety, and in no euse is any one thing the same with 
another, niu 7^36, 9002. In like manner, in the heavens, nn/5754, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 
900*2. That hence, all the societies in tiie heavens, and every angel in a societv, are 
distinct from each other, because in various good and use, nn. 61)0, 3241, 351'.), 3804, 8986, 
4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7S33, 71)86. That the divine love of tlie Lord arranges all into a 
beayenlj form, and conjoins them so thiit thev are as one man, nn. 457, 3986, 5598. 

217 



406, 407 HEAVEN. 

neiglibor more tlian themselves. On hearing these observations, 
they could make no answer, because they had heard something 
to the same effect in the life of the body, but did not believe it. 
They wondered that such love should exist in heaven, and how 
it could be possible for any one to love his neighbor better than 
himself. But they were informed, that all thing's good increase 
immensely in the other life : and that man's life, while in the 
body, is of such a nature that he cannot advance farther than to 
love bis neighbor as himself, being immersed in corporeal impedi- 
ments ; but when these are removed, such love becomes purer, 
and at length like that of the angels, which consists in loving their 
neighbor more than themselves. For, in heaven, it is delightful 
to do good to another, and is not delightful to do good to one's 
self, unless with a view to its becoming another's, consequently, 
for the sake of another ; and this is what is meant by loving one's 
neighbor more than one's self. It was told them, that the possible 
existence of such love may be concluded with certainty in the 
world, from the fact, that some, under the influence of conjugial 
love, have preferred death, rather than suffer their conjugial part- 
ner to be injured ; and from the love of parents towards their 
children, which is such, that a mother would rather encounter 
starvation herself, than see her infant want food. The same, it 
was also observed, may be inferred from the existence of sincere 
friendship, under the influence of which, there are persons who 
encounter dangers for their friends ; and even from the friendship 
of civility and pretence, which endeavors to emulate such as is 
sincere, and which induces men to offer the best they have to 
those for whom they profess a regard, and to make profession of 
such regard with their lips, though they do not feel it in their 
heart. Finally, the possible existence of such love was urged 
from the nature of love itself, its very nature being such, as to 
find its joy in serving others, not for one's own benefit, but for 
theirs. But these observations could not be comprehended by 
those, w^ho loved themselves more than others, and who, in the 
life of the body, had been greedy after lucre. Least of all could 
they be understood by misers. 

407. A certain spirit, who, in the life of the body, had been in 
a station of superior power, retained the desire to exercise author- 
ity in the other life. But he w^as told that he was now in another 
kingdom, which is eternal, and that his authority had died in the 
world ; and that where he was now, no one is esteemed except 
according to the good and truth, and to the share of the Lord's 
mercy, oi which he is in the enjoyment by virtue of his life in the 
world. It was observed to him, farther, that this kingdom is like 
those on earth, where people are esteemed for their wealth, and 
for the favor which they possess with the prince ; only the wealth, 
here, is good and truth, and favor with the prince is the Lord's 
mercv, which every man experiences according to the chai*actei 
218 



HEAVEN. 408—410 

of his life in the woi'ld : anJ that if ne wished to exercise author 
ity in any other manner, he was a rebel, being now in the king- 
dom of another Sovereign. On hearing these remarks, he was 
ashamed. 

408. I have conversed with some spirits, who imagined heaven 
and heavenly joy to consist in being great. But they were told, 
that the greatest in heaven is he who is the least ; for he is called 
the least who possesses no power or wisdom, and is willing to 
possess no power or wisdom from himself, but from the Lord. 
He who in this way is the least, has the greatest happiness ; 
and since he has the greatest happiness, it follows that he is the 
greatest ; for he thus has, from the Lord, power to do all things, 
and wisdom above all others. What is being the greatest except 
being the happiest ? for to be happiest is what the powerful seek 
through power, and the rich through riches. It was further told 
them, that heaven does not consist in desiring to be the least 
with a view of being the greatest, for he who does this, pants 
and lusts to be greatest all the while ; but it consists in desiring, 
from the heart, good for others more than for one's self, and in 
serving them with a view to their happiness, not from any selfish 
aim of obtaining remuneration, but out of love. 

409. Real heavenly joy, such as it is in its essence, cannot be 
described, because it resides in the inmost recesses of the life of 
the angels, and thence in all the minutiae of their thought and 
affection, and by derivation from these, in all the minutiae of 
their speech, and in all the minut ise of their actions. It is as if 
their mteriors were completely unbound, and set open for the 
reception of delight and beatitude, which are diffused through 
every fibre, and thus through the whole frame ; whence the per- 
ception and sensation of them is such as cannot be described : 
for that which begins in the inmost recesses of aU, flows into all 
the parts, even to the most minute, which thence take their rise, 
and propagates itself, with continual augmentation, towards the 
exteriors. Good sj)irits who are not yet in the perception of that 
delight, because they are not yet taken up to heaven, on perceiv- 
ing i\ flowing from an angel by the sphere of his love, are filled 
with such delight, that they fall, as it were, into a delicious swoon . 
This has often occurred to those, who desired to know what heav- 
enly joy is. 

410. There also were certain spirits who desired to know what 
hea\ «)nly joy is, and to whom, therefore, it was granted to have 
a perception of it to that degree, beyond which they were unable 
to bear any more. What they perceived, however, was not the 
joy of angels : it scarcely amounted to the smallest degree of 
angelic joy ; as was granted me to perceive by its being com- 
municated to me. It was so slight as almost to partake of some- 
thing rather frigid ; and yet they called it most heavenly, it being 
the mmost joy of which they were receptive. It was proved to 

219 



411- —413 HEAVEN. 

me by this circumstance, not only tliat there are various degrees 
of the joys of heaven, but also, that the inmost joy of one degree 
scarcely approaches to the last or middle of another,' and further, 
that when any one receives that which is the inmost to him, he 
is in the enjoyment of his proper heavenly joy ; and that he can- 
not bear any more interior degree of it, but would find it painful. 

411. Certain spirits, not evil ones, fell into a state of repose 
like that of sleep, and were thus translated, as to the interiors 
that belonged to their minds, into heaven : for spirits, before 
their interiors are opened, may be translated into heaven, and 
instructed respecting the felicity of its inhabitants. I saw them 
in this state of repose for about half an hour ; after which they 
relapsed into their exteriors in which they had been before, re- 
taming, however, the recollection of what they had seen. They 
related, that they had been among the angels in heaven, and that 
they had there seen and perceived amazing objects, all shining 
as with gold, silver, and precious stones, presenting admirable 
forms, which wer^ varied in a wonderful manner. They added, 
that the angels did not take delight in the external things them- 
selves, but in those that they represented, which were things 
divine, unspeakable, and of infinite wisdom : and that these w^ere 
the source of their joys ; not to mention other things innumerable, 
not a ten thousandth part of which can be expressed by human 
languages, nor fall into ideas which partake, in any degree, of 
materiality. 

412. Nearly all who enter the other life are ignorant of what 
heavenly beatitude and happiness are, because they have no 
knowledge respecting what, and of what nature, internal joy is, 
forming their conceptions of it solely from corporeal and worldly 
gayeties and joys. What they are ignorant of, therefore, they 
regard as nothing ; although corporeal and w^orldly joys are of 
no account, respectively. In order, therefore, that the well- 
disposed, who know not what heavenly joy is, may know and 
understand it, they are first led to paradisiacal scenes that sur- 
pass every idea that imagination could form. They now suppose 
that they have come into the heavenly paradise ; but they are 
instructed, that this is not, in reality, heavenly happiness. It is 
therefore granted them to experience interior states of joy, to the 
inmost of their caj)acity for perceiving them. They are afterwards 
led into a state of peace, to the inmost degree that is capable of 
being opened in them : when they confess, that nothing of its 
nature can be expressed by words, nor conceived in imagination. 
Finally, they are brought into a state of innocence, also to the 
inmost sense of it of which they are capable. Hence it is granted 
them to know, what spiritual and celestial good truly is. 

413. But in order that I might know what, and of what nature, 
heaven and heavenly joys are, it has frequently, and for a long 
time together, been granted me by the Lord to have a perception 

220 



HEAVEN. 413, 414 

of the delights of heavenly joys : I thus am able, indeed, to say, 
that I know what they are, because I have had actual experience 
of them ; but I am totally unable to describe them. Merely, 
however, that some idea of them may be formed, a few observa- 
tions shall be offered. 

Heavenly joy is an affection of delights and joys innumerable, 
which compose together a certain common whole, hi w^liich com- 
mon whole, or common affection, are included the harmonies ol 
innumerable affections, which do not come distinctly, but only 
obscurely, to the perception, because the perception is of the most 
common or general kind. It nevertheless was granted me to 
perceive, that innumerable things were included in it, so ar- 
ranged that they cannot possibly be described. Those innumer- 
able things are such as flow from the order of heaven. Such is 
the order that prevails in all the individual and most minute par- 
ticulars of the affection, which are only presented to the mind, and 
come to the perception, as one most common or general whole, 
according to the capacity of the person who is their subject. In 
a word, infinite things, in a form of most perfect order, are con- 
tained in every common whole ; and there is nothing among 
them which does not live, and exert an affecting influence ; all, 
in fact, doing so from the inmost recesses : for it is from the 
inmost recesses that all heavenly joys proceed. I perceived, 
also, that the joy and delight came as it were from the heart, 
diffusing themselves most gently through all the inmost fibres, 
and thence into the collections of fibres, with such an inmost 
sense of enjoyment, that every fibre felt as if it were nothing 
but joy and delight, and every thing capable of perception and 
sensation thence felt, in like manner, all alive with happiness. 
The joy that belongs to the pleasures of the body, compared with 
these joys, is like a gross and pungent clot of matter, compared 
with a pure and most gentle breath of refined air, or auraJ^ I 
observed, that when I wished to transfer all my deiight into 
another person, there followed a new infiux of delight, more 
interior and more full than the foiTtier ; and that in proportion 
to the amount that I desired to impart, was the amount of that 
which flowed in : and I perceived that this was from the Lord. 

414. They who dwell* in heaven, are continually advancing 
'■o wards tlie vernal season of life, and the more thousands of 
years they live there, the more delightful and happy is the state 
of spring to which they attain ; and this goes on to eternity, with 
continual increments, according to the progressions and degrees 
of their love, charity, and faith. Those of the female sex who 

* Aura is a term employed by the Author throughout his writings, to express au 
atmosphere of the third or highest degree of purity. For he considers the atmospheres, 
both in the spiritual and in the natural world, to consist of three degrees, to the lowest 
of which, being the only one perceptible to the senses, he gives tlie name of air Uw), 
to the middle, that of ether {(ether), and to the third or supreme, that of aura.— JV. 

221 



414, 415 HEAVEN. 

had died old women, quite worn out with age, bnt wlio had lived 
in faith in the Lord, in charity towards their neighbor, and in 
happy conjugial love with their husband, come more and more, 
in the course of years, into the flower of youth, accompanied with 
such beauty, as surpasses every idea of beauty ever perceptible 
to the sight. Goodness and charity are what model their form, 
presenting in it the likeness of themselves, and causing the de- 
light and beauty of charity to shine forth from every individual 
feature of their face, so as to make them the very forms of charity. 
They have been beheld by some, who were overwhelmed with 
amazement at the sight. The form of charity, which is seen to 
the life in heaven, is of such a nature, that charity itself is both 
that which produces it, and that which is effigied in it ; and, in 
fact, so completely is this the case, that the whole angel, but 
especially his face, is as it were charity, which both manifestly 
appears, and is perceived. The form, when viewed, is that oi 
beauty uns|)eakable, affecting with charity the very inmost life 
of the mind. In one word, in heaven, to grow old is to grow 
young. They who have lived in love to the Lord and in charity 
towards their neighbor, become, in the other life, such forms, and 
such beauties. All the angels are such forms, in inexhaustible 
varietv : and of these is heaven composed. 



OF THE IMMENSITY OF HEAVEN. 

415. That the Lord's heaven is immense, may appear from 
many things which have been stated and shown in the preceding 
sections ; especially from the fact, that the inhabitants of heaven 
are derived from the human race (see above, nn. 311 — 317), and 
not only from that portion of the human race who are born within 
the limits of the church, but also from that portion of mankind 
who are born beyond those limits (see nn. 318 — 328) ; thus, that 
it is composed of all who have lived in good from the first origin 
of this earth. How great a multitude of men exists in the whole 
of this terrestrial globe, may be concluded by any one who knows 
any thing about the quarters, countries, and kingdoms of this 
earth. He who makes the calculation will find, that men die, 
in this earth, to the number of several thousands every day, and 
thus, in a year, to the amount of some myriads or millions ; and 
that this has been going on from the first ages, since which there 
have intervened some thousands of years ; and that they all, on 
their decease, have passed, and are still continually passing, into 
the spiritual world. How many, however, of these, have become, 
and now become, angels, it is impossible to say : but I have been 
told that, in ancient times, there were very many, because men 
222 



HEAYEN. 416, 417 

then thonglit more interiorly and more spii'ituallj, and thence 
were in the enjoyment of heavenly affection ; but not so many 
in the succeeding ages, because man, in progress of time, became 
more external, and began to think more in a natural manner, and 
thence to be immersed in earthly affection. From these facts it 
may appear, in the first place, that the extent of heaven, as filled 
with natives of this earth alone, must be great. 

416. That the Lord's heaven is immense, may appear fi-om this 
fact alone ; that all infants or little children, whether born in the 
church or out of it, are adopted by the Lord, and become angels ; 
the number of whom amounts to a fourth or fifth part of the 
whole of the human race on this earth. That every infant or 
little child, wheresoever bom, whether in the church or out of it, 
and whether of pious or of wicked parents, is received, if he dies, 
by the Lord, is educated in heaven, is instnicted according to 
divine order, and imbued with affections of good, and, through 
them, with knowledges of tiaith, and afterwards, as he is perfected 
in intelligence and wisdom, is introduced into heaven and becomes 
an angel ; may be seen above (nn. 329 — 345). It may easily, 
therefore, be concluded, how great a multitude of angels of heaven 
has existed fi-om them alone, from the beginning of creation to the 
present time. 

417. How immense is the Lord's heaven, may appear with 
certainty from the fact, that all the planets that are visible to 
the sight in our solar system, are so many earths ; and that, 
besides these, there are innumerable others in the universe, all 
full of inhabitants. I have treated of these in a particular work. 
On the Earths in the Universe / from which I will make the fol- 
lowing extract : 

" That there are numerous earths, with men upon them, who 
after death become spirits and angels, is a fact well known in 
the other life ; for it is there granted to eveiy one who desires it 
from the love of truth and thence of use, to converse with the 
spirits of other earths, and thus to be assured of the existence 
of a plurality of worlds, and to be instructed, that the human 
race is not the offspring of one earth alone, but of earths innu- 
merable. I have often conversed on this subject with spirits 
from our earth, and have observed, that a man of intellectual 
capacity may learn, from many things with which he is ac- 
quainted, that there are numerous earths, and men upon them. 
He may infer from reason, that such gi-eat bodies as are the 
planets, some of which sui'pass this earth in magnitude, ai'e not 
empty masses, only created to be whirled along and to travel 
round the sun, and to shed their little ray of light upon a single 
earth ; but that they must be designed for uses far more excel- 
lent than this. Whoever believes, as every one ought to believe, 
that the Divine Being created the universe for no other end than 
to give existence to the human race, and thence to heaven, the 

223 



ilT HEAVEN. 

human race being tlie seminary of heaven, cannot but believe 
also, that there are men wherever there is an earth. That the 
planets which, as being within the limits of our solar system, 
are visible before our eyes, are earths, may manifestly be inferred 
from the fact, that they are bodies of earthy matter, as is evident 
from their reflecting the light of the sun, and, when viewed 
through a telescope, not appearing like stars glowing with flame, 
but like earths variegated with lights and shadows ; and also 
from this, that, in the same manner as our earth, they are 
carried round the sun, and travel through the path of the zodiac, 
whence they have their years, and the seasons of the year, spring, 
summer, autumn, and winter; and that, besides, in the same 
manner as our earth, they revolve about their axis, whence they 
have their days, and the times of the day, morning, noon, even- 
ing, and night ; in addition to which, some of them have moons, 
which are called their satellites, which move around them in 
stated periods, as the moon does round our earth ; and the planet 
Saturn, because his distance from the sun is very great, is en- 
compassed by a great luminous ring, which gives much though 
reflected light to that earth. Who that is acquainted with these 
facts, and thinks under the influence of reason, will pretend to 
say, that these are empty bodies ? I have observed, moreover, 
when in conversation with spirits, that man may readily believe 
that there are more earths in the universe than one, when he con- 
siders that the starry heaven is so immense, and the stars in it 
so innumerable, every one of which, in its place, or in its system, 
is a sun, and like the sun of our world, but varying in magni- 
tude. Whoever rightly considers this, must conclude, that all 
that immense apparatus cannot but be a means provided for the 
existence of a certain end, and that end the flnal end of creation ; 
which is, the existence of a heavenly kingdom, in which the 
Divine Being may dwell with angels and men. For the visible 
universe, or the sky above us, lighted up with stars so innumer- 
able, which are so many suns, is only a means provided for the 
existence of earths, and that men might exist upon them, out of 
whom might be formed a heavenly kingdom. From these facts 
the rational man cannot do otherwise than think, that so im- 
mense a means, provided for so great an end, was not created 
with a view to the production of the human race from one earth 
alone. What would this be for the Divine Being, who is Infi- 
nite, to whom thousands, yea, myriads of earths, all full of in- 
habitants, would be but little, indeed, scarcely any thing ? There 
are certain spirits whose sole study is to acquire knowledges, 
because in these alone they feel delight, and to whom, therefore, 
for that object, it is permitted to travel about, and even to pass 
beyond the bounds of this solar system into the systems belong- 
ing to other suns. These have informed me, that there not only 
are earths, inhabited by men, in this solar system, but beyond it 
224. 



HEA^-EN. 417, 418 

also, in the starry heavens, in immense nunibers. These spirits 
are from the planet Mercury. It has been calculated, that if 
there were a million ol* earths in the universe, and in every earth 
three hundred millions of men ; and if two hundred generations 
existed in the period of six thousand years ; and if a space of 
three cubic ells were allotted to every man or spirit — all of that 
number, men or spirits, collected into one body, would not till 
the space that this earth does, and indeed, little more than the 
space occupied by a satellite of one of the planets. This would 
be a space in the universe so small as to be almost invisible ; for 
it is with difficulty that a satellite is distinguished by the naked 
eye. What would this be for the Creator of the universe, to 
whom the whole universe, filled in this manner, would not be 
sufficient ? for He is Infinite. I have conversed on these sub- 
jects with the angels, who observed, that they had a similar idea 
of the paucity of the human race in respect to the Infinity of the 
Creator ; but that, nevertheless, they do not think from spaces, 
but from states ; and that, according to their ideas, earths to the 
number of as many myriads as can possibly be conceived, would 
still be absolutely nothing to the Lord." 

Respecting the earths in the universe, with their inhabitants, 
and the spirits and angels who come from them, the work above 
named may be consulted. The facts it relates were revealed and 
shown to me, in order that it might be known, that the Lord's 
heaven is immense, and that the whole of it is peopled from the 
human race ; and also, that our Lord is everywhere acknowl- 
edged as the God of heaven and earth. 

418. That the Lord's heaven is immense, may also be evident 
from this consideration : That heaven, viewed collectively, is 
in form as one man, and actually corresponds to all the parts, 
even to the most particular, that exist in man ; and that this 
corres;pondence can never be completely filled up, since it is not 
only a-correspondence with all the individual members, organs, 
and viscera of the body in general, but also, particularly and 
individually, with all and each of the minute viscera and organs 
included within the former, yea, with the individual vessels and 
fibres ; and not with these only, but also with the organic sub- 
stances which interiorly receive the infiux of heaven, whence 
man possesses interior activities subservient and conducive to 
the activities of his mind. For whatever exists interiorly in man, 
exists in forms, which are substances ; and whatever does not 
exist in substances as its subjects, is nothing at all. All these 
have correspondence with heaven (as may be seen in the Section 
on the CoiTespondence between all things of Heaven and all 
things of Man, nn. 87 — 102). This correspondence can never be 
filled up entirely, since the more angelic societies there are, cor- 
responding to one member, the more perfect does heaven be- 
come ; for, in the heavens, all perfection increases as the nuni- 
15 225 



419, 420 J1EA7EN. 

bors d«j. 'Hie reason that, in the heavens, perfection increases 
as the numbers do, is, because all have one end in view, and all 
unanimously look to that end. That end is, the common good ; 
and when this is the governing object, every individual derives 
good from the common good, and, from the good of every indi- 
vidual, good is derived to the community. This takes place, 
because the Lord turns all who dwell in heaven towards Him- 
self (see above, n. 123), and thus causes them to be one in Him- 
self. That the unanimity and concord of many, especially when 
derived from such an origin, and combined in such a bond, must 
be productive of perfection, every one may discover, if he views 
the subject from some measure of enlightened reason. 

419. It has been granted me to behold the extent of the heav- 
en that is inhabited, and also of that which is not inhabited ; 
when I saw that the extent of heaven which is not inhabited is 
so vast, that, even if there existed myriads of earths, and in every 
earth as great a multitude of men as in ours, it could not be filled 
to eternity. (On which subject, also, see the work On the Earths 
in the Universe^ n. 168.) 

420. That heaven, instead of being so immense, is of little ex- 
tent, is an opinion entertained by some from certain passages of 
the Word understood according to their literal sense ; as from 
th(;)se in which it is said, that only the poor are received in heav- 
en : that none but the elect can be accepted ; that only those 
belonging to the church can be admitted, and not those without 
it ; that it is only for those for whom the Lord intercedes ; that 
it will be closed when full, and that the time for this is predeter- 
mined. Such persons are not aware, that heaven will never be 
closed ; that there is not any time for such closing predetermined, 
nor are its inhabitants limited to any definite number ; that those 
are called the elect who are grounded in the life of good and 
truth •,(^) and those the poor who are not possessed of the knowl- 
edges of good and truth, and yet desire them ; who also, by vir- 
tue of that desire, are called them that hunger.(^) Those who 
'have conceived the opinion of the small extent of heaven through 
not having understood the Word, have no other idea, than that 
heaven is confined to one spot, where all its inhabitants compose 
one assembly ; when, nevertheless, heaven consists of innumer- 
able societies. (See above, nn. 41 — 50.) They also have no other 



(*) That those are the elect who are estabhshed in the life of good and truth, nn. 
8755^^ 3900. That there is not any election nor reception into heaven of mere mercy, as 
is geoerally -anderstood, but according to life, nn. 5057, 5058. That the Lord's mercy 
is not imniadiate, but mediate, that is, is shown to those who live according to His pre- 
cepts, whc-n, from a principle of mercy, He leads continually in the world, and atier- 
wards to eternitv, nn. 8700, 10,659. 

C) That by tne poor, in the Word, are understood those who are spiritually poor, 
that is, who are in ignorance of truth, but still desire to be instructed, nn. 9209, 9253. 
10,227. That they are said to hunger and thirst, which is to desire the knowledges oi 
good and of truth, by which there is introduction into the church and heaven, im. 
4958, 10,227. 



HEAVEN. 420 

idea, than that heaven is bestowed on every one bj immediate 
mercy, and thus that nothing more is required for its enjoyment, 
than to be let in, and received, of mere favor. They do not un- 
derstand, that the Lord, of His mercy, leads every one who 
receives Him, and that those receive Him who live according to 
the laws of Divine Order, which are the precepts of love and 
faith ; and that to be thus led by the Lord, from infancy to the 
end of a man's life in the world, and afterwards to eternity, is 
the mercy which is meant by that mode of speaking. Be it 
known, therefore, to such, that every man is born for heaven ; 
and that he is received in heaven who receives heaven in him 
self while in the world, and he is excluded who does not. 

227 



OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, 



AND 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 



WHAT THE WORLD OF SPIRITS IS. 

421. The world of spirits is not heaven, nor yet hell, but is a 
place or state intermediate between the two. Thither man first 
goes after death ; and having completed the period of his stay 
there, according to his life in the world, he is either elevated 
into heaven, or cast into hell. 

422. The world of spirits is a place intermediate between 
heaven and hell ; and it also is the intermediate state of man 
after death. That it is an intermediate place, was made evident 
to me by the fact, that the hells are beneath it, and the heavens 
above it ; and that it is an intermediate state, by the fact, that 
a man, so long as he is there, is not, as yet, either in heaven or 
in hell. The state of heaven, as existing with man, is the con- 
junction, in him, of good and truth ; and the state of hell is the 
conjunction, in him, of evil and falsity. When, in the man, 
now a spirit,^ good is conjoined with truth, he passes into 
heaven, because, as just remarked, that conjunction is heaven, 
as existing with him. But when, in the man, now a spirit, evil 
is conjoined with falsity, he passes into hell, because that con- 
junction is hell as existing with him. These conjunctions are 
efiected in the world of spirits, since man is then in an inter- 
mediate state. It is much the same, whether we say, the con- 
junction of the under-standing and the will, or, the conjunction 
of truth and good. 

423. Something shall here be first premised respecting the 
conjunction of the understanding and the will, and its resem- 
blance to the conjunction of good and truth ; since that con- 

* The Author here uses the expression homo-spiritus, — "man-spirit," as one word. 
It is applied by liim to the spirit of a man who has newly entered the spiritual world, 
when no is, as yet, in his externals^ much of what belonged to him as a man in tiie 
world, adhering to him still. But as the expression " man-spirit," sounds very harsh 
in English, and the Latin words, thus combined, are used bv the Author but a very 
few times, they are in every instance, in this translation, rendered as above, — ''man, 
now a spirit," except at n. 552, where, for the reason stated in a note at that Dlaoe, » 
somewhat different rendering was unavoidable. — A^ 

228 



OF THE woi:l:) cf spirits, etc. 424, 425 

junction is effected in the world of spirits. Man possesses an 
understanding, and he possesses a will. The understanding re- 
ceives truths, and is formed from them ; and the will receives 
goods, and is formed from them ; on which account, whatevei* 
a man conchides in his understanding, and thence thinks, he 
calls true, and whatever he wills, and thence thinks, he calls 
good. Man is able to think from his understanding, and thence 
to apprehend, what is true, and also what is good ; but still he 
does not so think from his will, unless he both wills it to be so, 
and acts accordingly. When he makes it an object of will, and 
acts, in consequence, according to it, it resides both in his un- 
derstanding and in his will, consequently, in the man himself 
For the understanding alone does not constitute the man, neither 
does the will alone, but the understanding and the will together : 
what, therefore, is in both, is in the man himself, and is appro- 
priated to him. What is only in the understanding, is indeed 
present w^ith the man, but is not in him. It is only an object 
of his memory, and a matter with which he is acquainted there- 
in deposited, — a thing of which he is able to think when he is 
not retired within himself, but is drawn out of himself in com- 
pany with others ; consequently, he is able to speak and reason 
respecting it, and can assume feigned afiections and gestures 
according to it. 

424. It is provided that man should be able to think from 
the understanding, without thinking at the same time from the 
will, in order that he might be capable of being reformed. For 
man is reformed by means of truths, and truths, as just ob- 
served, are objects of the understanding. Man is born into all 
evil as to his will, whence, of himself, he wills good to none but 
to himself alone : and whoever wills good to himself alone, 
takes pleasure in the misfortunes that befall others, especially 
when they tend to his own advantage : for he desires to appro- 
priate to himself the goods of all others, whether consisting in 
honors or in wealth, and, so far as he accomplishes it, he is in- 
ivardly pleased. In order that this state of the will may be 
amended and reformed, it is given to man to be able to under- 
stand truths, and by means of them to subdue the affections of 
evil which spring from the will. It is on this account that man 
is enabled to think truths from the understanding, and also to 
speak them, and to do them ; but still he cannot think them 
from the will, before he is such in quality, as to will and do 
them from himself, that is, from his heart. When man is such 
in quality, the truths which he thinks from his understanding 
are objects of his faith, and the truths which he thinks from his 
will are objects of his love ; wherefore faith and love then enter 
into coniunction in him, as his understanding and will do. 

425. in proportion, therefore, as truths, as being objects ot 
the understanding, are conjoined with goods, as being objects 

229 



426, 42 T OF THE WOELD OF SPIEITS, AND 

of the will ; thus, in proportion as a man wills truths and thence 
does them ; he has in himself heaven ; since, as stated above, the 
conjunction of good and truth is heaven. But in proportion as 
falsities, as being objects of the understanding, are conjoined 
with evils, as being objects of the will, a man has in himself 
hell ; since the conjunction of falsity and evil is hell. In pro- 
portion, however, as truths, as being objects of the understand- 
ing, are not conjoined with goods, as being objects of the will, 
the man is in an intermediate state. Almost every man, at the 
present daj^, is in such a state, as to be acquainted with truths, 
and from such acquaintance, and also from the understanding, 
to think them, and either to do much of what they require, oi 
little, or nothing ; or else, to act in opposition to them from the 
love of evil, and thence from the belief of falsity. In order, 
therefore, that such a man may be fitted either for heaven or 
for hell, he, after death, is first translated into the world of 
spirits, where the conjunction of good and truth is efiected for 
those who are to be elevated into heaven, and the conjunction 
of evil and falsity for those who are to be cast into hell. For it 
is not allowable for any one in heaven, nor for any one in hell, 
to have a divided mind, that is, to make one thing the object of 
his understanding, and another the object of his will ; but that 
which is the object of any one's w^ill must also be that of his 
understanding, and that which is the object of his understand- 
ing must also be that of his will. In heaven, therefore, every 
one, the object of whose will is good, must have truth as the 
object of his understanding : and in hell, every one, the object 
of whose will is evil, must have falsity as the object of his un- 
derstanding. On this account, in the world of spirits, falsities, 
with the good, are removed, and truths are given them suitable 
and conformable to their good : and truths are removed with 
the evil, and falsities are given them suitable and conformable 
to their evil. From these statements may be evident, what the 
world of spirits is. 

426. The world of spirits contains a great number of inhabitants, 
because it is the region in which all first assemble, and where all 
are examined, and are prepared for their final abode. Their stay 
there is not limited to any fixed period : some do but just enter it, 
and are presently either taken up to heaven or cast down to hell : 
some remain there only a few weeks ; and some for several years, 
but never more than thirty. The varieties in the length of their 
Btay depend upon the correspondence, or non-correspondence, 
between their interiors and their exteriors. But in what way a 
man, in that world, is led from one state into another, and is 
prepared for his final abode, will be stated in the following 
Sections. 

427- As soon as men, after their decease, enter the world ot\ 
spirits, thev aro accuratelv distinguished by the Lord into classes. 
230 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 428, 429 

The wicked are immediately connected by invisible bonds with 
the society of hell, in which they had been, as to their governing 
love, while in the world : and the good are immediately connected, 
in a simihir way, with the society of heaven, in which they had 
been, while in the world, as to their love, charity, and faith. But 
notwithstanding they are thus distinctly classed, all meet in that 
world, and converse together, when they desire it, who had been 
friends and acquaintances in the life of the body ; especially waives 
and husbands, brothers and sisters. I saw a father conversing 
with his six sons, all of whom he recognized ; and many others 
conversing with their relations and friends : but as they were 
different in disposition, resulting from their course of life in the 
world, after a short time they were parted. But those who go 
from the world of spirits to heaven, and those who thence go to 
hell, afterwards neither see nor know each other any more, unless 
they are similar in disposition, and similar in love. The reason 
that all who had been acquainted see one another in the world of 
spirits, and not in heaven nor in hell, is, because, while they in- 
habit the world of spirits, they are brought into states similar to 
those which they experienced in the life of the body, passing from 
one into another ; but afterwards, all are brought into a pennanent 
state, similar to that of the governing love ; and then, one indi- 
vidual only knows another from the similitude of his love ; for 
similitude conjoins, and dissimilitude parts asunder (as shown 
above, nn. 41 — 50). 

428. As the world of spirits is an intermediate state between 
heaven and hell, as these exist in man, so is it also an intermediate 
place. Beneath are the hells, and above are the heavens. All 
the hells are closed in the direction of that world, the only open- 
ings beino[ throus^h holes and clefts like those of rocks, and throuo;h 
chasms of wide extent ; all which are guarded, lest any one should 
come out except by permission ; which, however, is sometimes 
granted, w^hen any urgent necessity requires it; as will be ex- 
plained hereafter. Heaven, likewise, is securely shut in on all 
sides, nor ls any approach open to any heavenly society, except 
by a narrow way, the entrance of which is also guarded. Those 
outlets and these entrances are what are called, in the Word, the 
gates and doors of hell and of heaven. 

429. The world of spirits appears like a valley lying between 
mountains and rocks, here and there sinking and rising. The 
doors and gate-s leading to the heavenly societies do not appear, 
except to those who are prepared for heaven ; nor can they be 
found by any others. To every society there is one entrance from 
the world of spirits, beyond which there is one path, but which, 
as it ascends, is parted into several branches. IS^either do the 
gates and doors leading to the hells appear to any but those wdio 
are about to enter them. To such, they then are opened ; when 
there appear duskv and seeminglv sootv caverns, tending (»1> 

. 231 



429, 430 OF THE WOULD of spirits, and 

liquelj downwards to a great depth, where, again, there are sev- 
eral doors. Through those caverns are exhaled horrible stenches 
and foul smells ; which good spirits shun, because thej excite in 
them aversion, but evil S23irits seek, because thej yield them 
delight ; for as every one, in the world, takes delight in his own 
evil, so, after death, is he delighted with the stench to which 
his evil corresponds. Such persons may be compared, in this 
respect, to birds and beasts of prey, such as ravens, wolves, and 
swine, which, on scenting the stench proceeding from carrion 
and dung, fly or run eagerly to the spot. I once heard a certain 
spirit uttering a loud cry as if seized with inward torture, when 
he caught the scent of an exhalation that emanated from heaven; 
and I saw the same spirit rendered composed and joyful, by the 
stench of an exhalation that emanated from hell. 

430. There also exist with every man two gates, one of which 
opens towards hell, and is opened to the evils and falsities thence 
proceeding ; and the other opens towards heaven, and is opened 
to the goods and truths which flow from thence. In those who 
are immersed in evil and thence in falsity, the gate of hell is 
open, and only a few rays of light from heaven enter by influx 
through chinks, as it were, above : through which influx, man 
receives the ability to think, to reason, and to converse. But in 
those who are grounded in good and thence in truth, the gate of 
heaven is open. For there are two ways which lead to man's 
rational mind : a superior or internal way, by which enter good 
and truth from the Lord ; and an inferior or external way, by 
which enter evil and falsity from hell. The rational mind of 
man is stationed in the centre, to which the two ways tend : 
whence, in proportion as light is admitted into it from heaven, 
the man is rational ; but in proportion as that light is not ad- 
mitted, he is not rational, how much soever he may appear to 
himself to be so. These facts are stated, that the nature of the 
correspondence of man with heaven and with hell, may also be 
known. His rational mind, while in the course of its formation, 
corresponds to the world of spirits ; whatever is above it corre- 
sponds to heaven, and whatever is below it to hell. The parts 
above it are opened, and those below it are shut against the 
influx of evil and falsity, with those who ai'e prepared for heaven: 
but the parts below it are opened, and those above it are shut 
against the influx of good and truth, with those who are prepared 
for hell. The latter, in consequence, cannot do otherwise than 
look beneath them, that is, to hell ; and the former cannot do 
otherwise than look above them, that is, to heaven. To look 
above is to look to the Lord, He being the common centre to 
which all things belonging to heaven look ; but to look beneath 
is to look away from the Lord to the opposite centre, to which 
all things belonging to hell look and tend. (See above* nik 
123, 124.) 
232 



OF THE STATE OF M.VX AFTER DEATH. 431 i34 

431. By spirits, when mentioned in the preceding pages, are 
meant the sojourners in the world of spirits ; but by angels, the 
inhabitants of heaven. 



THAT, AS TO HIS INTERIORS, EVERY MAN IS A SPIRIT. 

432. "Whoever rightly considers the subject, may be aware, 
that the body does not think, because it is material ; but that 
the soul does think, because it is spiritual. The soul of man, 
respecting the immortality of which so much has been written, 
is his spirit; for this is immortal as to every thing that belongs 
to it ; and this it is that thinks in the body. For the spirit is a 
spiritual existence, and that which is spiritual receives that which 
is spiritual, and lives in a spiritual manner ; and to live in a 
spiritual manner is to exercise thought and will. All the rational 
life, therefore, which appears in the body, belongs to the spirit, 
and nothing whatever of it to the body. For the body, as just 
observed, is material, and materiality, which is what is proper 
to the body, is a thing added, and almost, as it were, adjoined, 
to the spirit, in order that the spirit of man might live, and per- 
form uses, in the natural world ; all the objects of which are ma- 
terial, and, in themselves, void of life. ]!!^ow, since that which is 
material does not live, but only that which is spiritual, it may 
appear with certainty, that whatever lives in man, is his spirit, 
and that the body only serves it mechanically, just as an instru- 
ment serves a living motiv^e force. It is usual to say, indeed^ 
respecting an instrument, that it acts, moves, or strikes ; but to 
suppose that these powei's belong to the instrument, and not to 
him who acts, moves, or strikes, by it, is a fallacy. 

433. Since every thing that lives in the body, and, by virtue 
of such life, acts and feels, is solely of the spiiit, and nothing of 
it whatever is of the body ; it follows, that the spirit is the real 
man ; or, what is much the same, that man, regarded in himself, 
is a spirit. It also follows, that the spirit exists in a form similar 
to that of the body : for whatever lives and feels in man belongs 
to his spirit: and there is nothing in him whatever, from the 
crown of his head to the sole of his toot, which does not live and 
feel ; wherefore, when the body is separated from his spirit, which 
is called dying, the man continues to be a man, and lives still. 
I have heard from heaven, that some who die, while they lie upon 
the bier, before they are resuscitated, actually think in their cold 
body, and are not conscious but what they are alive still, except 
with the ditference, that they cannot move a single material par- 
ticle, all these belonging to the body alone. 

434. Man cannot exercise thought and will at all, unless there 
be a subject, which is a sabstance, from and in which he exerti 

233 



4:34:, 435 OF THE WORLD OF SPIKITS, A^D 

those faculties. Whatever is imagined to exist, and yet to be 
destitute of a substantial subject, is nothing. This may be known 
from the circumstance, that man cannot see, without an organ 
which is the subject of his sight, nor hear, without an organ 
which is the subject of his hearing. Without these, sight and 
hearing are nothing whatever, and can have no existence. It is 
the same with thought, which is internal sight ; and with appre- 
hension, which is internal hearing : unless these existed in, and 
from, substances, which are organic forms, and are the subjects 
of those faculties, they could not exist at all. From these truths 
it may appear with certainty, that the spirit of a man is equally 
in a form, and that the human form ; and that it equally pos- 
sesses senses, and organs of sense, when it is separate from the 
body, as when it was in it ; and that the whole of the life of the 
eye, and the whole of the life of the ear, — in one word, the whole 
of the sensitive life that man enjoys, does not belong to his body, 
but to his spirit ; for his spirit dwells in them, and in the most 
minute particulars that enter into their composition. It is from 
this cause, that spirits see, hear, and feel, as well as men do ; 
only, after their separation from the body, they do . not exercise 
those senses in the natural world, but in the spiritual. The reason 
that the spirit exercises sensation in a natural manner while in 
the body, is, because it then acts through the material nature 
which is added to it ; but even then it enjoys sensation, at the 
same time, in a spiritual manner, by the exercise of thought 
and will. 

435. These truths are mentioned, in order that the rational 
man may be convinced, that man, viewed in himself, is a spirit, 
and that the corporeal frame, which is added to him for the sake 
of the functions he has to exercise in the natural and material 
world, is not the man, but only an instrument that is wielded by 
his spirit. But confirmations of an experimental kind are pref- 
erable, because rational arguments transcend the capacity of 
many, and, by those who have confirmed themselves in the op- 
posite opinion, are made to appear doubtful by reasoniugs drawn 
Irom the fallacies of the senses. It is usual for those who have 
confirmed themselves in the contrary opinion to think, that 
beasts, also, have life and sensation, and thus, that they too 
have a spiritual nature, similar to that of men ; which never- 
theless, with them, dies with the body. The spiritual nature, 
however, of beasts, is not of the same kind as the spiritual nature 
of man. For man has (what beasts have not) an inmost degree 
or region of the soul, into which the Divine Being enters by 
influx, elevates it to Himself, and thus conjoins it witli Himself. 
It is from this cause that man, differently from beasts, is able to 
think of God, and of the divine things that belong to heaven and 
the church, and to love God from and in those things, and thus 
to be conjoined to Him; and whatever is capable of being 
234 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 436, 437 

conjoined to tlie Divine Being, is incapable of being dissipated; 
whereas, whatever is not capable of being conjoined to the 
Divine Being, is dissipated unavoidably. That inmost degree 
or region of the soul, which man has, and which beasts are 
without, was treated of above (n. 39) ; and I will here repeat 
what was there stated, because, it is of importance that the 
fallacies that have been embraced through ignorance of the 
difference between man and beasts, should be dispersed ; and 
those fallacies prevail with many, who, through the want oi 
knowledges on the subject, and through not having their under- 
standing opened, are incapable of forming rational conclusions 
respecting it for themselves. The passage alluded to is as fol- 
lows : " I will here mention a certain arcanum respecting the 
angels of the three heavens, which never before entered the 
mind of any one, because no man has hitherto understood the 
doctrine of degrees. (On which see n. 38.) There is in every 
angel, and also in every man, an inmost and supreme degree, or 
a certain inmost and supreme region of the soul, and faculty ot 
reception, into which the Divine Sphere of the Lord first or 
proximately flows, and from which it regulates the other interior 
receptive faculties, which follow in succession, according to the 
degrees of order. This inmost or supreme region of the soul 
may be called the Lord's entrance to angels and men, and his 
most immediate dw^elling-place in them. It is owing to his hav- 
ing this inmost or supreme abode for the Lord, that man is man, 
and is distinguished from the brute animals, which do not possess 
it. It is by virtue of this, that man, differently from animals, 
with respect to all the interiors, or the faculties belonging to his 
internal and external mind, is capable of being elevated by the 
Lord to himself, of believing in him, of being affected with love 
to him, and thus of seeing him ; and is capable of receiving 
intelligence and wisdom, and of conversing in a rational manner; 
and it is also by virtue of this, that man lives to eternity. But 
the arrangements and provisions that are made by the Lord in 
this inmost region, do not come manifestly to the perception of 
any angel, because they are above his sphere of thought, and 
transcend his wisdom." 

436. That, as to his interiors, man is a spirit, has been granted 
me to know by much exj^erience, the whole of v/hich, were I to 
adduce it, would fill many sheets. I have conversed with spirits 
as a spirit, and I have conversed with them as a man in the body ; 
and when I conversed with them as a spirit, they were not aware 
but that I was a spirit myself; and they saw that I was in human 
form, as they were. It was thus that my interiors appeared be- 
fore them ; for, when I conversed with them as a spirit, my 
material body did not appear. 

437. That, as to his interiors, man is a spirit, may appear 
with certainty from the fact, that after his body is separated 

235 



4:38 4A0 OF THE WOELD OF SPIRITS, AKD 

from him, as occm-s when he dies, he still continues to live a 
man as before. That I might be fully convinced of this truth, 
it has been granted me to converse with almost all whom I ever 
knew when they lived in the body, with some for a few hours, 
with some for weeks and months, and with some for years. 
This was granted me, chiefly to the end, that I might be assured 
of the truth myself, and that I might testify it to others. 

438. To what has already been stated, may be added, that 
every man, even while he lives in the body, is, as to his spirit, 
in society with spirits, although he is not conscious of it; a 
good man being, through them as mediums, in an angelic so- 
ciety, and a bad man in an infernal society ; and that he passes 
into the same society after death. This has often been declared 
and shown to those, who, after death, came among spirits. The 
man does not indeed appear in that society as a spirit, while 
he lives in the world, by reason that he then thinks in a natural 
manner : but persons who think abstractedly from the body, 
being then in the spirit, do sometimes appear in their own 
society. On those occasions, however, they are accurately dis- 
tinguished by the spirits who dwell there from the others ; for 
they walk about in meditation, do not speak, and do not look at 
the other spirits, behaving as if they did not see them ; and as 
soon as any spirit accosts them, they vanish. 

439. To illustrate the truth, that, as to his interiors, man is a 
spirit, I will relate, from experience, what it is for a man to be 
withdrawn from the body, and what it is to be carried of the 
spirit into another place. 

440. With respect to the first, that is, being withdrawn from 
the body, it is effected thus : The person is brought into a cer- 
tain state, which is intermediate between sleeping and waking. 
When he is in this state, he cannot possibly know but that he 
is wide awake. All the senses are as active as when the body 
is perfectly awake, not only the senses of sight and hearing, but 
(what is wonderful) that of touch also, which is then more ex- 
quisite than it ever can be when the body is awake. In this 
state, likewise, spirits and angels are seen in complete reality ; 
tliey also are heard to speak, and (what is wonderful) are felt by 
touch, scarcely any thing of the body being then interposed be- 
tween them and the person who beholds them. This is the 
state, of which it is said, by those who have experienced it, that 
they were absent from the hody^ and that whether they were m 
the body or out of the body they could not tell.^ I have only 
been let into this state three or tour times, merely that I might 
know the nature of it, and might be assured, likewise, that spirits 
and angels enjoy all the senses, and that man, as to his SjDirit, 
does so too, when he is withdrawn from the body. 

* As the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 2, fi.—N. 

236 



OF THE STATE OF MA]N Al^TER DEATH. 441- -445 

441. As to the other state, — that of being carried of the spirit 
into another phice, — it has been shown me, by actual experience, 
but only twice or thrice, w^hat is its nature, and how it is effected. 
I will mention a single instance. Walking through the streets 
of a city, and through fields, and being at the time in conversa- 
tion with spirits, I was not aware but that I w^as aw^ake, and in 
the use of my sight, as at other times. I thus walked on with- 
out mistaking the way, being, at the same time, in vision, be- 
holding groves, rivers, palaces, houses, men, and other objects. 
But aftei" walking thus for hours, I suddenly returned into my 
bodily sight, and discovered that I w^as in a different place. 
Being exceedingly astonished at this, I perceived that I had been 
in the state experienced by those, of w^hom it is said, that they 
were carried of the sjpirit to another place. ^ While it continues, 
the length of the way is not reflected on, though it were many 
miles ; nor the time occupied in the journey, though it were 
many hours or days ; nor is there any sense of fatigue. The 
person is also led, without mistaking the road, through ways 
that he did not know, to the place of his destination. 

442. But these two states of man, which are states belonging 
to him when he is in his interiors, or, what amounts to the same, 
w^hen he is in the spirit, are extraordinary ones, and were only 
showm me that I might know the nature of them, the existence 
of such states being known in the church. But to converse 
wdth spirits, and to be among them as one of themselves, has 
been granted me w^hen fully awake as to the body ; and the 
privilege has now been continued to me for many years. 

443. That, as to his interiors, man is a spirit, may be further 
confirmed from the facts advanced and explained above, where 
it was shown that the inhabitants of heaven and hell are all 
from the human race (nn. 311 — 317). 

444. By the proposition, that, as to his interiors, man is a 
spirit, is meant, that he is a spirit as to every thing belonging to 
his thought and will ; for these are actually the interior things 
which cause a man to be a man ; and which make him such a 
man, in quality, as he is as to those faculties. 



OF MAN'S RESUSCITATION FROM THE DEAD, AND ENTRANCE INTO 

ETERNAL LIFE. 

445 When the body is no longer capable of discharging its 
functions in the natural world, corresponding to the thoughts 
and affections of its spirit, which are derived from the spiritual 
world, the man is said to die. This occurs, when the respu'atory 
motions of the lungs, and the systolic motions of the heart, cease. 

* As was experienced bv Philip (Acts viii. 39), and was common with the prophets. 
(1 Kings xviii. 12 ; 2 King's ii. 16).— iV: 

9.37 



4:46, 447 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

Nevertheless, the man does not die, but is only separated from 
the corporeal frame which was of use to him in the world : thjO 
man himself lives. It is affirmed, that the man himself lives, 
because a man is not such by virtue of his body, but by virtue 
of his spirit ; since it is the spirit in man that thinks, and thought, 
together with affection, is what makes him a man. It hence is 
evident, that man, when he dies, only passes out of one world 
into anotlier. On this account, death, in the Word, in its inter- 
nal sense, signifies resurrection, and the continuation of life.(^) 

446. The inmost communication of the spirit with the body 
takes place with the respiration, and with the motion of the heart, 
the thought communicating with the respiration, and the affec- 
tion that belongs to love with the heart ;(^) wherefore, when 
those two motions cease in the body, the separation immediately 
ensues. Those two motions, — the respiratory motion of the lungs 
and the systolic motion of the heart, — form the bonds, on the 
rupture of which the spirit is left by itself; and the body, being 
now destitute of the life of its spirit, grows cold, and putrefies. 
The reason that the inmost communication of the spirit of man 
witli his body takes place with the respiration and with the heart, 
is, because all the vital motions depend on these, not only in the 
body generally, but in every part.(^) 

447. Man's spirit, after the separation, remains a little time in 
the body, but not longer than till the total cessation of the mo- 
tion of the heart ; which takes place sooner or later according to 
the nature of the disease of which the man dies. With some, 
the motion of the heart continues a long while after the body is 
apparently dead, but with others, not so long. As soon as this 
motion ceases, the man is resuscitated: but this is effected by 
the Lord alone. By resuscitation is meant, the withdrawing of 
the spirit of man from his body, and its introduction into the 
spiritual world; which is commonly called resurrection. Thi 
reason that a man's spirit is not separated from his body before 
the motion of the heart has ceased, is, because the heart corre- 
sponds to the affection that belongs to the love, which is the very 
life of man ; for it is from love that everv one derives the vital 
heat :{*) wherefore so long as this motion'-'' continues, that corre- 

(*) That death, in the Woi'd, signifies resurrection, since, wlien man dies, his life is 
still continued, nn. 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6222. 

('j Tliat the heart corresponds to the will, thus likewise to the affection which be- 
longs to the love; and tliat the respiration of the lungs corresponds to the understand- 
ing, thus to the thought, n. 3888. That the heart, in the Word, hence signifies the 
will and love, nn. 7542, 9050, 10,336. And that the soul signifies understanding, faith, 
and truth; hence, from the soul and from the heart, signifies, from the understanding, 
faith, and truth, and from the will, love, and good, nn. 2930, 9050. Of the correspond- 
ence of the heart and lungs with the Grand Man or heaven, nn. 3883 — 3896. 

(•) That the pulse of the heart and the respiration of the lungs prevail in the body 
throughout, ana flow mutually into every part, nn. 3887, 3889, 3890. 

(*) That love is the esse of man's life, n. 5002. That love is spiritual heat, and that 
thence originates the actual vitality of man, nn. i589, 2146, 4906, 7081 — 7086, 9964, 
10,740. That affection is the continuous derivation of love, n. 3938. 

* The word in the original is here conjunct io ; but that this has been written OT 
printed by mistake for the very different word motus, appears evident from the whole 

238 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFTER DEATH. 448, 449 

3pondence continues, and, consequently, the life of the spirit in 
the body. 

448. In what manner resuscitation is effected, has not only 
been related to me, but has also been shown me by actual expe- 
rience. I was myself made the subject of that experience, in 
order that I might fully know how the great change is accom- 
plished. 

449. I was brought into a state of insensibility as to the bodily 
senses, and thus nearly into the state of dying persons ; the in 
terior life, nevertheless, remaining entire, together with the fac- 
ulty of thought, that I might observe, and retain in my memory, 
the particulars of the process that I was about to undergo, be 
ing such as are experienced by those who are being resuscitated 
from the dead. I perceived that the respiration of the bod} 
was almost taken away, the interior respiration, which is that 
of the spirit, remaining conjoined with a slight and tacit respi- 
ration of the body. There was opened, in the first place a 
communication with the Lord's celestial kingdom as to the pul- 
sation of the heart, because that kingdom corresponds to the 
heart in man.(°) Angels belonging to that kingdom were also 
seen, some at a distance, and two sitting near my head. By 
their means, all affection proper to myself was taken away ; but 
thought and perception still continued. I was in this state for 
some hours. The spirits who were around me then withdrew, 
supposing that I w^as dead. There was also perceived an aro- 
matic odor, like that of an embalmed corpse ; for when celestial 
angels are present, the effluvium of the corpse is perceived as an 
aromatic perfume,"^ on smelling which, spirits are unable to aj)- 
]3roach. By this means, also, evil spirits are driven away from 
the spirit of a man, when he is first introduced into eternal life. 
The angels who sat at my head did not speak, but only commu- 
nicated their thoughts with mine. When their thoughts, thus 
communicated, are received, the angels know that the man's 
spirit is in such a state, as to be capable of being drawn out of 
the bodv. The communication of their thouo^hts was effected 
by directing the aspect of their countenances on mine ; for it is 
by this means that communications of thoughts are produced in 
heaven. As thought and perception remained with me, in 
order that I might know and remember how resuscitation is 



context. It is not the cessation of the conjunction between the spirit and the bodj 
that the Autlior is immediately treating of, but the cause of the cessation of that con- 
junction ; which he affirms to be, by the termination of the correspondence between 
them, throiigli the cessation of the motion of the heart. — i\\ 

(^,1 That the heart corresponds to the Lord's celestial kingdom, and the lungs to Hia 
spiritual kingdom, nn. 3635, 3SS6, 3887. 

* Tliis may serve to explain what many readers have met with, as related by aiithors 
of good credit, concerning certain persons of eminent piety, who are said to have died 
in the odor of sanctity^ from the fragrancy that issued (in appearance) from their bodies 
after deatli. — //. — To this the author of the present translation can add, that he baa 
himself known at least one uuiieuiable instance of the kind. — N. 

239 



4:49, 450 OF THE WOELD OF SPIRITS, AND 

accomplished, I perceived that those angels first examined what 
my thoughts were, to see if they were similar to those of dying 
persons, which are usually engaged about eternal life ; and that 
they wished to keep my mind occupied with such thoughts. It 
was told me afterwards, that a man's spirit is kept in the last 
thoughts that he had when his body was expiring, till he returns 
to the thoughts that flow from the general or governing affection 
that possessed him in the world. It was particularly given me 
to perceive, and to feel, also, that there was a drawing, and, as 
it were, a pulling out, of the interiors belonging to my mind, 
thus of my spirit, from the body ; and it was told me, that this 
proceeded from the Lord, and that it is this which effects the 
resurrection. 

450. The celestial angels who thus minister to the resusci- 
tated person, do not leave him, because they love every one ; 
but if the spirit is such in quality that he cannot longer con- 
tinue in the company of celestial angels, he feels a desire to 
depart from them. When he does so, angels of the Lord's 
spiritual kingdom come to him, by whom the use of light is 
given ; for, previously, he saw nothing, but only exercised his 
thoughts. It was also shown me how this is done. Those angels 
seemed to unroll, as it were, the coat of the left eye towards 
the nose, that the eye might be opened, and the faculty of sight 
imparted. It appears to the spirit as if such an operation were 
actually performed ; but it is only an appearance. After the 
coat of the eye has seemed to be thus drawn off, a lucid but in- 
distinct appearance is observed, like that which, on first awak- 
ing from sleep, a man sees through his eye-lids before he opens 
them. This indistinct lucid appearance, as seen by me, was ot 
a sky-blue color : but I was afterwards informed, that there are 
varieties in the color, as seen by different persons. After this, 
there is a sensation as if something were gently drawn off the 
face ; and when this operation is completed, the resuscitated 
person is introduced into a state of spiritual thought. That 
drawing off of something from the face, is likewise, however, 
only an appearance ; and by it is represented the passing from 
the state of natural thought into the state of spiritual thought. 
The angels use the utmost caution lest any idea should proceed 
from the resuscitated person but such as partakes of love. All 
this being done, they tell him, that he is now a spirit. After 
che spiritual angels have imparted to the new-born spirit the 
use of light, they render him all the kind offices which, in that 
state, he can possibly desire, and instruct him respecting the 
things that exist in the other life, as far as he is capable of com- 
prehending them. But if the resuscitated person is not of such 
a character as to be willing to receive instruction, he desires to 
withdraw from the company of those angels. The angels, not- 
withstanding, do not leave him, but he separates himself from 
240 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFTER DEATH. 451, 452 

their society : for the angels love every one, and desire nothing 
more than to perform kind offices to all, to give them instruc- 
tion, and to take them to heaven ; in which consists their 
supreme delight. When the spirit has thus separated himself 
from the society of the angels, he is taken charge of by good 
spirits, who, while he remains in their company, also do him all 
sorts of kind offices. If, however, his life in the w^orld had been 
of such a nature that he cannot abide in the company of the 
good, he likewise desires to be away from them. This conduct 
he repeats during a shorter or longer period of time, and in 
fewer or more instances, till he becomes associated with such 
spirits as completely agree with his life in the world : in their 
company, he finds his own life ; and, what is wonderful, he then 
pursues a similar course of life to that which he had led in 
the world. 

451. But this commencing state of man's life after death doe3 
not continue more than a few days : but how he is afterwards 
led on from one state to another, and at last either into heaven 
or into hell, will be related in the following Sections ; for with 
this process, also, I have been made ncquainted by abundant 
experience. 

452. I have conversed with some on the third day after their 
decease ; when the process had been completed that is described 
just above, nn. 449, 450. Three of these had been known to me 
in the world ; to whom I related, that preparations were now 
being made for the burial of their body. I happened to say, 
for their burial ; on hearing which, they were struck with a sort 
of stupor, and declared, that they were alive, but that their 
friends might commit to the grave what had served them for a 
body in the world. They afterwards wondered exceedingly, 
that, when they lived in the body, they did not believe there 
was such a life after death ; and they were especially astonished 
that, within the church, almost all are possessed by a similar 
incredulity. Those who, while in the world, had not believed 
in any life of the soul after the life of the body, on finding them- 
selves to be living after death, are exceedingly ashamed : but 
those who had confirmed themselves in the denial of it, are con- 
nected in society with their like, and are separated from those 
who had maintained the belief of it. For the most part, they 
are attached, by an invisible bond, to some infernal society ; 
for such characters have also denied the Divine Being, and 
have held in contempt ^e truths of the church. For just in 
proportion as any one confirms himself against the eternal life 
of his own soul, he also confirms himself against all things that 
belong to heaven and to the church. 

16 .241 



453, 454 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 



THAT MAN, AFTER DEATH, IS m PERFECT HUMAN" FORM. 

453. That the form of man's spirit is the human form ; or that 
the spirit is a man even with respect to form ; may be evident 
from what has been offered in several Sections above, especially 
from those in which it was shown, that every angel is in a per- 
fect human form (nn. Y3 — 77) ; that, as to his interiors, every 
man is a spirit (nn. 432 — 444) ; and that the angels in heaven 
are from the human race (nn. 311 — 317). This may be seen 
still more clearly from the fact, that a man is a man by virtue 
of his spirit, and not by virtue of his body ; and that the corpo- 
real form is added to the spirit according to the form of the 
latter, and not conversely : for the spirit is clothed with a body 
according to its own form. It is owing to this circumstance, 
that the spirit of a man acts on all the parts, even to the most 
minute, of the body, and this so universally, that any part 
which is not acted upon by the spirit, or in which the spirit is 
not active, does not live. That such is the fact, every one may 
be aware of from this circumstance alone, that the thought and 
will actuate all the parts of the body, both collectively and indi- 
vidually, so completely at their pleasure, that there is nothing 
which does not respond to their behests ; and if there should be 
any thing which does not so respond, it is no part of the body, 
and, as being void of a living principle, is cast out from it. 
Kow thought and will belong to the spirit of man, not to his 
body. The reason that the spirit, in human form, does not ap- 
pear to men after its separation from the body, nor yet' the 
spirit that is in another man, is, because the organ of sight be- 
longing to the body, or the bodily eye, so far as the sphere of 
its vision is in the world, is material, and what is material can 
see nothing but what is material, whilst what is spiritual sees 
what is spiritual ; wherefore, when the material substance of 
the eye is shut out from, and deprived of its correspondence 
with, its spiritual substance, spirits appear in their own form, 
which is the human ; and not only such spirits as are in the 
spiritual world, but also the spirit that is in another person 
while he is yet in his body. 

454. The reason that the form of the spirit is the human, is, 
because man, as to his spirit, was created according to the form 
of heaven ; for all things belonging to heaven, and to its order, 
are collated into those belonging to the mind of man ;(^) from 
which circumstance it is, that he possesses the faculty of receiv- 

(') That man is the being into whom are collated all things of divine order, and that, 
from creation, he is divine order in form, nn. 4219, 4220, 4228, 4523, 4524, 5114, 5868, 
6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10,156, 10,472. That so far as man lives according to 
divine order, in the 'ther life he appears as a man, perfect and beautiful, nn. 4839, 
6605, 6626. 

242 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 454, 455 

Ing intelligence and wisdom. Whether you say, the faculty of 
receiving intelligence and wisdom, or, the faculty of receiving 
heaven, it amounts to the same thing. All this may evidently 
appear from what has been shown above respecting the light and 
heat of heaven (nn. 126 — 140) ; respecting the form of heaven 
(nn. 200 — 212) ; and respecting the wisdom of the angels (nn. 
265 — 275) ; and in the Sections in which it is shown, that 
heaven, as to its form, is, both in the whole and in its parts, as 
a man (nn. 59 — 77) ; and this by derivation from the Lord's 
Divine Humanity, from w^hich proceeds both heaven and its form 
(nn. 78—86). 

455. All the statements that have now been advanced, a 
rational man will be able to understand, for he is able to view 
things from the chain of causes, and from truths flowing in 
their own order ; but a person who is not a rational man will 
not understand them. For this, there are several reasons : the 
chief of which is, that he is not willing to understand them, be- 
cause they contradict his false notions, which he has made his 
truths : and he who, on this account, is not willing to under- 
stand them, has closed the way against the influx of heaven into 
his rational faculty. Still, however, that way is capable of 
being opened, provided the will do not resist. (See above, n. 
424.) That a man is capable of understanding truths, and be- 
coming truly rational, provided he be but willing, has been 
demonstrated to me by much experience. Often have I beheld 
evil spirits, who had become irrational through having, when in 
the world, denied the Divine Being and the truths of the church, 
and having confirmed themselves in such denial, turned, by a 
divine force, towards those who were in the enjoyment of the 
light of truth. - They then comprehended those truths, as the 
angels do, confessed them to be truths, and acknowledged that 
they comprehended them all. But as soon as they relapsed into 
themselves, and turned to the love which was that of their own 
will, they comprehended nothing, and affirmed the direct con- 
trary. I have also heard some infernal spirits say, that they 
knew and perceived that what they did was evil, and that what 
they thought was false, but that they could not resist the delight 
of their love, or could not act against their will, and that this 
was what directed their thoughts, causing them to see evil as 
good, and falsity as truth. It was thus made evident, that those 
who are immersed in falsities derived from evil, are capable of 
understanding truths, and thus of being rational, but that they 
are not willing ; and that the reason why they are not willing is, 
because they have loved falsities in preference to truths, since 
falsities agreed with the evils in which they were sunk. Loving 
and willing amount to the same thing ; since what a man wills, 
be loves, and what he loves, he wills. Since the state of men 
is such, that they are capable of understanding truths provided 

248 



4:55, 456 OF THE WOKLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

they be but willing, it has been permitted me to confirm spir- 
itual truths, which are those belonging to heaven and to the 
church, by rational considerations. This has been granted, to 
the end that the false notions, which, with many, have closed 
the rational faculty, might, by such rational considerations, be 
dispersed, and thus, in some little measure, their eyes be opened. 
For it is permitted to all who are grounded in truths, to confirm 
spiritual truths by rational considerations. Who could ever 
understand the Word, from reading it in its literal sense, unless 
he viewed the truths contained in it from an enlightened rational 
faculty ? From what cause, but the want of so viewing it, have 
so many heresies arisen from the same Word ?(^) 

456. That the spirit of a man, after its separation from the 
body, is itself a man, and similar in form, has been proved to 
me by the daily experience of many years. I have seen themj 
I have heard them speak, and I have talked with them, thou- 
sands of times : and our conversation has sometimes been on 
this very subject, — that men in the world do not believe spirits 
to be men also, and that those who do believe it are accounted 
by the learned as simpletons. The spirits were grieved at heart 
that such ignorance should still continue in the world, and espe^ 
cially in the church. They said that this negative belief had 
emanated principally from the learned, who had thought re- 
specting the soul from their corporeal-sensual apprehensions, 
from which they had conceived no other idea of it than as a 
mere thinking principle, which, when regarded as destitute of 
any subject, in and by virtue of which it could have an actual 
existence, is like a sort of volatile breath of pure ether, which 
cannot but be dissipated when the body dies. As, however, 
the church, on the authority of the Word, believes in the im- 
mortality of the soul, they could not but ascribe it to some vital 
faculty, like that of thought, though they deny it any sensible 
faculty, such as is enjoyed by man, till it should again be united 
to the body. On this opinion is founded the common doctrine 
of the resurrection, and the belief that such reunion will take 
place on the arrival of the last judgment. To this it is owing, 
that, when any one thinks about the soul from the common 
doctrine, and, at the same time, from the above-named hypoth- 
esis respecting its nature, he does not at all comprehend that 
the soul is the spirit, and that this is in the human form. In 
addition to which, scarcely any one, at the present day, is aware 

C) That we ou^lit to begin with the truths of doctrine of the church, which are de- 
rived from the Word, and first acknowledge those truths ; and that afterwards it is 
allowed to consult scientifics, n. 6047. Thus that it is allowed those who are in an 
afiirmativc principle concerning the truths of faith, to confirm them rationally by scien- 
tifics, but it is not allowable for those who are in a negative principle, nn. 25G8, 2588, 
4760, 6047. That it is according to divine order from spiritual truths to enter rationally 
into scientifics, which are natural truths, and not from the latter into the former; be- 
cause spiritual influx into natural things takes place, but not natural or physical influi 
Into thincrs spiritual, nn. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6822. 9110, 9111. 

244 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 45 G 

of what the spiritual nature is, and still less that any human 
form can belong to spiritual existences, as all spirits and angels 
are. To this it is owing, that almost all who pass out of this 
world into the other, wonder exceedingly to find themselves 
alive, an<l that they are men equally as before ; that they can 
see, hear, and speak ; that their body possesses the sense of 
feeling as before ; and that there is no discernible diiference 
.whatever. (See above, n. Yi.) But when they cease to wonder 
at themselves, they begin to wonder that the church should 
possess no knowledge whatever about the state of men, as being 
such, after death, nor, consequently, respecting heaven and hell ; 
although, notwithstanding, all persons who have ever lived in 
the world, have passed into the other life, and are there living 
as men. As likewise, they wondered that this was not made 
manifest to man by means of visions, it being an essential arti 
cle in the faith of the church, they were informed from heaven, 
that this might indeed have been done, for nothing is more easy, 
when the Lord sees good ; but that, nevertheless, those who have 
confirmed themselves in false notions contrary to these truths, 
would not believe them, even were they themselves to be made 
the subjects of such ocular demonstration. They were informed, 
further, that it is dangerous to confirm any thing by visions to 
persons who are grounded in falsities ; for they would, in con- 
sequence, first believe what was so confirmed to them, and 
would afterwards deny it, and thus would profane the truth it- 
self; for first to believe truths, and afterwards to deny them, is 
to commit profanation ; of which those who are guilty, are 
thrust down into the deepest and most grievous of all the 
hells.(^) The danger of this is what is meant by the Lord's 
words : " He Jiath hlinded their eyes^ and Jiardened their heart / 
that they should not see with their eyes^ nor understand with 
their hearty and he converted^ and I should heal theni^ — (Jchn 
xii. 40.) And that those who are confirmed in falsit'es would 
still not believe, is taught in these words: ^'' Ahrah m saith 
unto the rich man in hell^ They have Moses and the i)ro])hets / 

(') That profanation consists in the commixing of good and evil, also of what is true 
and what is false, with man, n. 6348. That none can profane truth and good, or tlic 
holy things of the Word and the church, but those who first acknowledge them, and 
especially if they live according to them, and afterwards recede from the faith, deny 
them, arid live to themselves and the world, nn. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 8398, 3399, oSi'S, 
4289, 4601, 10,284, 10,287. If man, after repentance of heart, relapses into his former 
evils, that he is guilty of profanation, and that in such case his latter state is worse 
than his former, n. 8394. That those cannot profane holy things, who have not 
acknowledged them ; still less those who do not know them, nn. 1008, 1010, 1059, 
9188, 10,^84. That the Gentiles, who are out of the church, and have not the Word, 
cannot profane it, nn. 1327, 1328, 2051, 2081. That, on this account, interior truths 
were not discovered to the Jews, since if they had been discovered and acknowledged, 
that people would have profaned them, nn. 3398, 8399, 6968. That the lot of profaners 
In the otner life is the worst of all, because the good and truth, which they have ac- 
knowledged, remain, and likewise the evil and falsity, and, because they cohere, the 
life is rent asunder, nn. 571, 582, 6348. That therefore the utmost provision is madt 
by the Lord to prevent profanation, nn. 2426, 10,384. 

245 



457, 458 OF THE WORLD OF SPIKITS, AND 

let them hear them. And he said, -N'ay^ father Abraham, : hut 
if one went unto them from the dead^ they would rejyent. And 
he said unto him^ If they hear not Moses and the projphets^ 
neither will they he persuaded though one rose from the deadP 
—(Luke xvi. 29, 30, 31.) 

457. The spirit of a man, when first he enters the world of 
spirits, which takes place soon after his resuscitation, described 
in the last Section, is similar in countenance, and in the tone of 
his voice, to what he was in the world. The reason is, because 
he is then in the state of his exteriors, and his interiors are not 
yet laid open. This is the first state of man after death. But 
afterwards his countenance is changed, and becomes quite dif- 
ferent ; being rendered similar to his governing affection or 
love, which is that in which the interiors belonging to his mind 
had been grounded while in the world, and which had reigned 
in his spirit while this was in the body. For the face of a man's 
spirit differs exceedingly from that of his body ; the face of his 
body being derived from his parents, but that of his spirit from 
his affection, of which it is the image. Into this his spirit 
comes, after his life in the body, when his exteriors are removed, 
and his interiors are revealed. This is the third state of man 
after death. I have seen some who were recently come from the 
world, whom I knew by their face and tone of voice ; but I did 
not know them when I saw them afterwards. Those who had 
been grounded in good affections were then seen with beautiful 
faces ; but those who had been immersed in evil affections, with 
ugly ones : for the spirit of man, regarded in itself, is nothing 
but his affection ; of which the external form is the face. Another 
reason of the change of countenance is, because it is not allowable 
for any one, in the other life, to feign affections that are not his 
own, nor, by consequence, to put on looks that are contrary to his 
lovs. All persons, be they who they may, are there brought 
into such a state, as to speak as they think, and to show, in 
their countenance and gestures, what are the inclinations of 
their will. From these causes it results, that the faces of all 
become the forms and images of their affections ; whence it also 
happens, that all who knew each other in the world, know each 
other, likewise, in the world of spirits ; but not in heaven, nor 
in hell.(^) (As was observed above, n. 427.) 

458. The faces of hypocrites are changed more tardily than 
those of others, by reason that, through practice, they have cou- 

(*) That the face is formed to correspondence with the interiors, nn. 4791 — 48^5, 
5695. Concerning the correspondence of the face and its looks witli tlie affections of 
the mind, nn. 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306. That, 
with tlie angels of lieaven, the face makes one with the interiors which belong to the 
mind, nn. 479G— 4709, 5695, 8250. Tliat on this account, the face, in the Word, signi- 
fies the interiors whicli belong to the mind, that is, which belong to the affection and 
thought, nn._1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546. In what manner the influx 
from the brain into the face has been changed in a successive course of time, and with 
it the face itself, as to correbpondence witli the interiors, nn. 4326, 8250. 

246 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 459, 460 

tracted a habit of settling their interiors so as to imitate good 
affections ; whence, for a long time, they appear not un beautiful ; 
but since they are gradually divested of that assumed imitation, 
and the interiors belonging to their minds are settled according 
to the form of their own affections, they afterwards become 
more ugly than others. Hypocrites are such persons as talked 
like angels, but interiorly acknowledged nothing but nature, and 
thus denied the Divine Being, and, consequently, the things 
belonging to heaven and the church. 

459. It is to be observed, that the human form of every one 
after death is more beautiful, in proportion as he had more 
interiorly loved divine truths, and had lived according to them : 
for the interiors of every one are both opened and formed 
according to that love and life; on which account, the more 
interior is the affection, so much the more conformable to 
heaven, and, conssquentl}", so much the more handsome, is the 
countenance. It is owing to this, that the angels who dwe'l in 
the inmost heaven are so exceedingly beautiful; they being 
forms of celestial love. But those who had loved divine truths 
more externally, and thus had more externally lived according 
to them, are less beautiful ; for only their exteriors shine forth 
from their face, and interior heavenly love is not translucent 
through them, consequently, not the form of heaven such as it 
intrinsically is. There appears something respectively obscure 
emanating from their countenance, not animated by the trans- 
lucence of interior life. In a word ; all j^erfection increases as 
it ascends towards the interiors, and decreases as it descends 
towards the exteriors ; and beauty does the same. I have seen 
faces of angels of the third heaven, which w^ere so beautiful, that 
no painter, with all the resources of his art, could impart such 
brightness to his colors, as should equal a thousandth part of 
the light and life which appeared in those countenances. But 
the faces of angels of the ultimate heaven, may, in some degree, 
be equalled by a painter. 

460. I will, in the last place, communicate a certain arcanum, 
which has hitherto been known to none. It is this : that every 
thing good and true that proceeds from the Lord, and constitutes 
heaven, is in the human form ; and that it is so, not only in the 
whole, and on the greatest scale, but in every part, and in the 

smallest: and that this form exercises an affectins; influence on 

• 
every one who receives good and truth from the Lord, and im- 
parts the human form to every inhabitant of heaven, according 
to the degree of his reception. It is owing to this, that heaven 
is similar to itself both in general and in particular ; and that 
the human form is that of the whole, of every society, and of 
every ans^el ; as shown in four Sections above. (From n. 59 to 
n. SG.) To which may be made this addition : that the human 
form exists also in the angels, in every minutia of thought, that 

247 



460, 461 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

is derived from celestial love. But this arcanum can witli diffi- 
culty come within the comprehension of any man ; though h 
enters with clearness into the understanding of angels, because 
they dwell in the light of heaven. 



THAT MAN, AFTER DEATH, IS POSSESSED OF EVERY SENSE, AND 
OF ALL THE MEMORY, THOUGHT, AND AFFECTION, THAT HE 
HAD IN THE WORLD ; AND THAT HE LEAVES NOTHING BEHIND 
HIM BUT HIS TERRESTRIAL BODY. 

461. That when a man passes from the natural into the spir- 
itual world, as he does when he dies, he takes with him all 
things belonging to him as a man except his terrestrial body, 
has been j^roved to me by manifold experience. For when he 
enters the spiritual world, or the life after death, he is in a 
body, as he was in the world : to all appeai*ance, there is no dif- 
ference whatever, because there is none that he can discover 
either by touch or by sight. But his body is now spiritual in 
its nature, and thus is separated or purified from the terrestrial 
particles : and when what is spiritual touches and sees what is 
spiritual, the effect to the sense is exactly the same, as when 
what is natural touches and sees what is natural. On this 
account, when man has become a spirit, he does not know, by 
consciousness, that he is not still in the body in which he 
was when in the world ; consequently, he does not knov/ by 
consciousness, that he has died. The man, now a spirit, enjoys 
every sense, both internal and external, that he possessed in the 
world. He sees, as before; he hears and speaks, as -before; he 
smells, likewise, and tastes, and feels when he is touched, as be- 
fore ; he longs, also, he desires, he wishes, he thinks, he reflects, 
he is affected, he loves, he wills, as before : and a person who 
takes pleasure in study, reads and writes, as before. In a word, 
a man's transit from one life into the other, or from one world 
into the other, is like a journey from one place into another; 
and he takes with him all things that he possesses in himself as 
a man ; so that it cannot be said that a man after death, his 
death being only that of his terrestrial body, has lost any thing 
that belonged to himself. He also carries with him his natural 
memory : for every thing that he ever heard, saw, read, learned, 
or thought, from his earliest infancy to the last day of his life, 
he still retains. The natural objects, however, which are con- 
tained in his memory, not being capable of being reproduced in 
a spiritual v/orld, remain quiescent, just as they do with a man 
in the world when he does not think of them : but, notwith- 
standing, they are reproduced when the Lord sees good. But 
respecting this memory, and its state after death, more will be 
248 



OF THE STATE OF M.\JSr AFTER DEATH. 461, 462 

related presently. A sensual man cannot at all believe that the 
state of man after death is of such a nature, because he does 
not comprehend how it can be : for a sensual man cannot do 
otherwise than think in a natural manner, even on spiritual 
subjects ; wherefore, w^hatever he does not perceive b}^ the 
senses, or does not see with the eyes, and feel with the hands, 
of his body, he affirms to have no existence ; as we read of 
Thomas, in John xx. 25, 27, 29. (What is the character of the 
sensual man, may be seen above, n. 267, and in the references 
there made.) 

462. Still, however, the difference between the life of a man 
in the spiritual world, and his life in the natural world, is great, 
both with respect to the external senses and their affections, and 
to the internal senses and their affections. The inhabitants of 
heaven have much more exquisite senses, — that is, they see and 
hear much more exquisitely, — and they also think with much 
more wisdom, than they did when they were in the world. For 
they see by the light of heaven, which exceeds, by many de- 
grees, the light of the world (see above, n. 126) ; and they hear 
through a spiritual atmosphere, which also, in purity, by many 
degrees, excels the atmosphere of the earth (see n. 235). The 
difference between these external senses, as they exist in augels 
and in men, is like the difference, in the world, between a clear 
sky and a dark mist ; or like that between noon-day light and 
evening sliade. For the light of heaven, being the Divine 
Truth, enables the sight of the angels to perceive and to dis- 
tinguish the minutest objects. Their external sight, also, corre- 
Sj^unds to their internal sight, or that of their understanding ; 
for, with the angels, the one species of sight flows into the other, 
60 as to cause them to act as one ; to which is owing their great 
keenness of sight. In the same manner, likewise, their hearing 
corresponds to their perception, which is a faculty belonging to 
the understanding and the will in combination ; in consequence 
of which, they distinguish, both in the tone of voice and in the 
words of a person speaking, the most minute particulars of his 
affection and thought, perceiving in the tone all relating to his 
affection, and in the words all relating to his thought. (See above, 
nn. 234—245.) But the other senses, in the angels, are not so 
exquisite as are those of sight and hearing ; by reason that these 
are conducive to their advancement in intelligence and Avisdom, 
which the others are not. AVere the other senses as exquisite 
as these, they would take away the light and delight of their 
wisdom, and would introduce the delight of the pleasures con- 
nected with the body and the various appetites, which, so far as 
they prevail, obscure and debilitate the understanding ; as actu- 
ally takes place with men in the world, who become dull and 
stupid in regard to spiritual truths, in proportion as they indulge 
in the pleasures of taste, and in the blandishments connected 

249 



462, 462* OF THE WOULD OF SPIRITS, AND 

with the sense of touch which soothe the body. That the intc 
rior senses of the angels of heaven, which are those of theii 
thought and affection, are more exquisite and perfect than they 
were in the world, may also appear from what was stated and 
shown in the Section on the wisdom of the angels of heaven 
(nn. 265 — 275). As to the difference between the state of the 
inhabitants of hell and their state in the world, this, also, is 
great : for in proportion to the greatness of the perfection and 
excellence of the external and internal senses in the angels ol 
heaven, is that of their imperfection in the inhabitants of hell. 
But the state of these will be treated of hereafter. 

462.'^ That man takes with him from the world all his mem- 
ory, lias been shown me by many proofs; on which subject 
numerous things worthy of being mentioned have been seen 
and heard by me ; some of which I will relate. There were 
some who denied the crimes and enormities which they had 
committed in the world; wherefore, lest they should be sup- 
posed to be innocent, these were all laid open, and were recited 
in order, from their own memory, from the first period of their 
life to the last : they consisted, chiefly, of adulteries and whore- 
doms. There were some who had practised deception upon 
others by wicked arts, and who had committed robberies : their 
tricks and thefts were also enumerated in their order, though 
scarcely any of them had been known in the v/orld, except to 
themselves alone. They also acknowledged them, because they 
were made manifest as if in broad daylight, together with all 
the thoughts, intentions, pleasures, and fears, which occupied 
their minds on the several occasions. There were some who 
had taken bribes, and made a trade of their judicial functions : 
these crimes were in like manner brought to light from their 
own memory, from which they were all recited, from the fii*sfe 
day of their entering on their office to the last. All the par- 
ticulars appeared, both as to the amount of the bribe and its 
nature, with the time, and the state of their mind and intention 
at the moment : all rushed to their recollection, and were dis»- 
played to the view of those present. The several transactions 
were many hundreds in number. This was done with several,, 
and (what was wonderful) their memorandum books, in which 
they had noted down the particulars, were opened and read 
before them, page by page. Some were brought to a similar 
judgment who had enticed virgins to submit to be dishonored, 
or had violated the chastity either of maids or of matrons ; 
when all the circumstances were brought forth and leoited from 
their memory : the very faces of the virgins and women were 
also exhibited, as if they were present, together with the places, 
the words that passed between them, and the state of tht 'i 

* This number is repeated in the original. — M. 

250 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTEll DEATH. 4G2,* 463 

inind3 : and all was displayed as suddenly, as when a scene is 
unfolded to the view. Such exposures sometimes were con- 
tinued for several hours. There was a certain spirit who had 
accounted as nothing the evil of backbiting others. I heard his 
backbitings and defamations, with the very words he employed, 
recited in order ; the persons respecting whom, and those to 
whom, he had uttered them, being discovered at the same time : 
all were brought forth, and vividly exhibited, together; and yet, 
in every instance, his practices had been carefully concealed by 
him while he lived in the world. There was one who had de- 
prived a relation of his inheritance by a fraudulent pretext : he, 
too, was similarly convicted and judged ; and, what was wonder- 
ful, the letters and papers which had passed between them were 
read in my hearing, and I was informed that not a word was 
wanting. The same person, also, not long before his death, had 
clandestinely murdered his neighbor by poison ; which was 
brouo'ht to lio'ht in this manner : He was seen to dio; a hole 
under ground, out of which, when dug, a man came forth, like 
one coming out of a grave, who cried out to him, "What hast 
thou done to me?" All the particulars were then revealed; 
how the poisoner had conversed with him in a friendly manner, 
and had then given him the fatal cup ; together with what he 
had thought previously, and what happened afterwards : all 
which beino; brouo-ht to lio-ht, he was condemned to hell. In a 
word, all the criminal practices, the wicked deeds, the robberies, 
the deceptions, the artifices, of which he had been guilty in the 
world, are laid open to every evil spirit, being brought forth 
from his own memory ; and thus he is convicted ; nor is there 
any room for denial, since all the circumstances appear together. 
I also heard the particulars, when, from the memory of a certain 
spirit inspected and examined by the angels, every thing that he 
had thought for a month, day after day, was recited, all without 
the least mistake; the particulars being recalled, just as he was 
engaged in them, on those days. From these examples it may 
evidently appear, that man carries all his memory with him into 
the other world, and that nothing is so concealed in this world, 
as not to be made manifest after death ; and that, too, in the 
presence of many witnesses ; according to these words of the 
Lord: ^^ There is nothing covered that shall not he revealed: 
neither hid^ that shall not he hnown. Therefore^ whatsoever ye 
have sjyolien in darhness^ shall he heard in the light / and that 
which ye have spoken in the ear in closets^ shall he jproclaimed 
upon the house-tops^ — (Luke xii. 2, 3.) 

463. When a man's actions are brought before him after 
death, the angels to whom the duty of making the inqmry is 
assigned, look into his face ; and then the examination proceeds 
through his whole body, beginning from the fingers of bor\ 
hands. As I wondered w^hat this could be for, it was discovert 1 

251 



463 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, ANT> 

to me. Al the particulars of a man's thought and will are 
inscribed on his brain ; for there they exist in their first prin- 
ciples. Thence, also, they are inscribed on his whole body ; 
because all things belonging to his thought and will proceed 
thither from their first principles, and are there terminated, as 
being there in their ultimates. This is the reason, that what- 
ever things proceeding from a man's will and thence from his 
thought are inscribed on his memory, are not only inscribed on 
the brain, but also on the whole man, and there exist in order, 
according to the order of the parts of the body. It was hence 
made evident to me, that man is such in the whole, as he is in 
his will and in his thought thence derived, so that a bad man is 
his own evil, and a good man is his own good.(-) From these 
facts may also be evident, what is to be understood by man's 
book of life, which is spoken of in the Word : the meaning of it 
is, that all things belonging to every one, both his actions and 
his thoughts, are inscribed on the whole man, and that they 
appear as if read out of a book, when they are called forth from 
his memory, and as if seen in efiigy, when the spirit is viewed 
in the light of heaven. 

To these statements I will add a certain memorable circum- 
stance respecting the memory of man as remaining after death ; 
by which I was assured, that not only general things, but also 
the most particular, which have once entered the memory, 
abide there, and are never obliterated. I saw some books, with 
writing in them, such as exist in the world ; and I was informed, 
that they were taken from the memory of their authors, and 
that not a single word was wanting, that was contained in tbe 
books as written by those persons in the world : I was told at 
the same time, that, in this manner, the most minute particulars 
of all, contained in another person's memory, could be called 
forth from it, even such as he, in the world, had forgotten. The 
reason was discovered also ; which is, that man has both an 
external memory and an internal one, the external memory 
being that of his natural maii, and the internal memory that of 
his spiritual man ; and that every individual thing that a man 
has thought, willed, spoken, or done, together with Qvery thing 
that he has heard or seen, is inscribed on his internal or spiritual 
memory ;(^) and further, that whatever is there written is never 

(*) That a good man, spirit, and angel, is his own good and his own truth ; that is, 
that he is wholly such as his good and truth are, nn. 10,298, 10,367. The reason is, 
because good forms the will, and truth the understanding, and the will and under- 
standing form the all of the life appertaining to a man, to a spirit, and to an angel, nn, 
8332, 3623, 6065. In like manner it may he said, that every man, spirit, and angel, is 
his own love, nn. 6872, 10,177, 10,284. 

('^ That man lias two memories, an exterior one and an interior one, or a natural 
onu and a spiritual, nn. 2469 — 2494. That man does not know that he lias an interior 
memory, nn. 2470, 2471. IIow mucli the interior memory excels the exterioi n. 2478. 
That the things contained in the exterior memory are in the light of the world, but tiie 
things contained in the interior are in tlie light of heaven, n. 5212. That it is from the 
loterior memorv that man is enabled to think and speak intellectually and rational'Y, 

252 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 463, 464 



erased, because it is inscribed, at the same time, on the spirit 
itself, and on the members of his body, as stated just above ; 
and thus that the spirit has acquired a form according to the 
thoughts and acts of his will. I am aware that these facts will 
appear like paradoxes, and will, therefore, with difficulty be 
believed ; but, nevertheless, they are true. Let not, therefore, 
any man imagine, that there is any thing which he has thought 
in his own breast, or has done in secret, that can be hidden 
after death ; but let him be assured, that all and each will then 
be manifest as in open day. 

464. Althougli man has his external or natural memory in 
him after death, the merely natural things contained in it are not 
reproduced in the other life, but, instead, such spiritual things as 
are adjoined to those natural things by correspondences. These, 
however, when exhibited to view, appear in a form precisely 
similar to that which the natural things had in the natural world : 
for all objects that appear in the heavens appear similar to those 
in the world, although, in their essence, they are not natural, 
but spiritual. (As is shown in the Section on Kepresentatives 
and Appearances in Heaven, nn. 170 — 176.) But the external 
or natural memory, so far as its contents partake of materiality, 
of time and space, and of whatever else is proper to nature, does 
not serve the spirit for the same use as it had done in the world. 
For man in the world, when he thinks from the external sensual 
part of his mind, and not at the same time from the internal 
sensual or intellectual part, thinks naturally and not spiritually; 
but in the other life, being then a spirit in a spiritual world, he 
thinks spiritually and not naturally. To think spiritually, is to 
think intellectually or rationally. It is owing to this, that the 
external or natural memory, as to the material part of its contents, 
is then quiescent, and those parts of its contents only come into 
use, which man has acquired by means of the former, and has 
invested with a rational character. The reason that the external 
memory, as to such part of its contents as are of a material nature, 
is quiescent, is, because such things cannot be reproduced ; for 
spirits and angels speak from the affections, and from the thought 
thence originating, belonging to their minds ; on which account, 
they cannot give utterance to any thing that does not agree with 
these. (As may appear from what is stated respecting the speech 
of the angels, both among themselves and with man, in two Sec- 

n. 9394. That all the things, including every particular, which a man has thougnt, 
has spoken, has done, and which he has seen and heard, are inscribed on the interior 
memory, nn. 2474, 7398. That that memory is the book of his lite, nn. 2474, 9386, 
9S41, 10,505. That in the interior memory are the truths which have been made truths 
of faith, and the goods which have been made goods of love, nn. 5212, 8067. That 
those things which have acquired habit, and have been made things of tlic life, and 
thereby obliterated in the exterior memory, are in the interior memory, nn. 9394, 9723, 
3841. That spirits and angels speak from the interior memory, and henco that they 
have a universal languige, nn. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493. That languages in the worm 
belong to the exterior memory, nn. 2472, 2476. 

253 



4:64: OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

tions above, nn. 234 — 257.) From this cause, in proportion as a 
man has become rational in the world by means of an acquaint- 
ance with languages and sciences, he is rational after death ; but 
not at all in proportion to the mere extent of his acquaintance 
with those lan£)^uao:es and sciences. I have conversed in the 
other life with many, who, in the world, were regarded as men 
of learning, on account of their knowledge of the ancient lan- 
guages, such as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, but who had not 
cultivated their rational faculty by the information contained in 
the books written in those languages ; and some of them were 
found to be as simple as those who were acquainted with no 
language but their own ; whilst others were absolutely stupid • 
and yet a conceited persuasion remained with them, as if they 
were wiser than others. I have conversed with some who im- 
agined in the world, that a man's wisdon^ is in proportion to the 
stores in his memory, and who had thorefore crammed their 
mem-ory with a great number of things, and conversed almost 
solely from it, and thus not from themselves, but from others, 
without having at all improved their rational faculty by what 
their memory contained. Some of these were quite stupid ; 
others were mere idiots, not at all comprehending any truth so 
as to see whether it was a truth or not, and eagerly embracing 
any falsities that were propounded as truths by such as call 
themselves men of learning : for such persons are not able to 
see, for themselves, whether any thing propounded as true be so 
or not, and, consequently, can apprehend nothing rationally that 
they hear from others. I have also conversed with some, who, 
in the world, had written a great deal, embracing scientific 
matters of all kinds, and who had thus acquired a reputation 
for learning through a great part of the world. Some of these 
could, indeed, reason about truths, debating whether they were 
such or not; and some, when turned towards those who enjoyed 
the light of truth, could understand that they were truths ; but 
still they were not willing to understand them ; wherefore they 
denied them again, when they sunk into their own falsities and 
thus into themselves. There were others who were as ignorant 
as the unlettered vulgar. Thus they differed one from another, 
according as, by the scientific works which they had written or 
copied, they had cultivated their rational faculty. But those 
who had been opposed to the truths of the church, and had 
occupied their thoughts with mere matters of science, by means 
of which they had confirmed themselves in falsities, had not 
cultivated their rational fiiculty, but only the faculty of reasoning. 
This, in the world, is supposed to be rationality ; but it is a faculty 
with which rationality has no connection, being a mere talent fur 
confirming as true whatever a man pleases, and, from precon- 
ceived principles and from fallacies, seeing falsities as truths, but 
not truths themselves. Such persons can never be brought to 

254: 



OF THE STATE OF MAK AFTER DEATH. 465, 466 

recognize truths as being such ; because truths cannot be seen, 
as to their real nature, from falsities, though falsities may be so 
seen from truths. The rational fiiculty ol man is like a garden 
and flower bed, or like a fallow field : the memory is the ground : 
scientific truths and knowdedges are the seeds. As the light and 
heat of the sun are what make the natural earth and seeds pro- 
ductive, and without these there can be no germination : so, unless 
the light of heaven, wdiich is Divine Truth, and the heat of heaven, 
which is Divine Love, be admitted into the mind, there can be no 
growth there : it is to these, alone, that the rational faculty owes 
its existence. The angels grieve exceedingly that so great a pro- 
portion of the learned ascribe all things to nature, and have thence 
so closed the interiors belonging to their minds, as not to be able 
to see any thing of truth by the light of truth, which is the light 
of heaven. In the other life, therefore, they are deprived of the 
faculty of reasoning, that they may not, by reasonings, difi'use 
falsities among the simple good, and so seduce them. They also 
are banished into desert places. 

465. There was a certain spirit who was angry at not remem- 
bering many things with which he was acquainted in the life of 
the body, grieving over the pleasure that he had lost, with which 
Ad used to be greatly delighted. But he was told that he had 
Lot lost any thing, but still was acquainted with all that ever he 
knew, including every particular : but that, in the world in which 
he now was, he was not allowed to bring such matters forward, 
and that he ought to be satisfied with being able to think and 
speak much better and more perfectly than before, without im- 
mersing his rational faculty, as he used to do, in gross, obscure, 
material, and corporeal things, which were of no use in the king- 
dom into which he had now entered. It was also told him, that 
he now possessed every thing that could promote the uses of 
eternal life, and thus that he could not enjoy beatitude and 
happiness in any other manner ; consequently, that it was mere 
ignorance to imagine, that, in the kingdom in which he now 
was, intelligence was lost with the removal and quiescence of 
the material contents of the memory ; the fact in reality being, 
that in proportion as the mind is capable of being withdrawn 
from the sensual things that belong to the external man or to 
the body, it is elevated to things spiritual and celestial. 

466. Of what quality are the two memories, is sometimes, in 
the other life, exhibited to view, in such forms as aie only there 
to be seen ; for many things are there rendered objects of sight, 
which, among men, can only be conceived in idea. The exterior 
memory is there j^resented, in appearance, like a callus, and the 
interior like a medullary substance, such as exists in the human 
brain ; and from the appearance of them both is communicated a 
knowledge of the character of the parties to whom they belong. 
With those who, in tlie life of the body, had solely labored to store 

255 



467, 468 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, ANL> 



thememoiy, and tlius liad not cultivated the rational faculty, the 
callosity appears hard, and as if inwardly interspersed with ten- 
dons. With those who had filled the memory with falsities, it 
appears hairy and rough ; which appearance is occasioned by the 
things contained in the memory being such an unarranged mass. 
With those who had labored in storing the memory for the grati- 
fication of self-love and the love of the world, it appears as if the 
fibres were glued together and ossified. With those who wished 
to penetrate into divine arcana by scientific attainments, especially 
by what is called in the schools philosophy, and would not believe 
them till they should be persuaded by such means, the memory 
appears dark ; the darkness being of such a nature as to absorb 
the rays of light, and to turn them into darkness. With those 
who had practised deceit and hypocrisy, it a]3pears of a hard 
bony nature, like ebony, which reflects the rays of light. But 
with those who had been grounded in the good of love and in 
the truths of faith, such a callus does not appear, because their 
interior memory transmits the rays of light into their exterior, in 
the objects or ideas of which, as in their basis or ground, the rays 
are terminated, and find in them delightful rece23tacles. For the 
exterior memory is the last thing in order ; in which, therefore, 
things spiritual and celestial gently terminate and dwell, when 
they find in it such contents as are good and true. 

467. Men while living in the world, if grounded in love to the 
Lord and in charity towards their neighbor, have attached to 
them, and within them, intelligence and wisdom. These, how- 
ever, are stored ap in the inmost recesses of their interior memory, 
and can never appear, even to themselves, till they put off the 
corporeal elements. Then their natui'al memory is laid asleep, 
and they awake into their interior memory, and finally, by de- 
grees, into such as belongs to the angels. 

468. How the rational faculty may be cultivated, shall also 
be briefly declared. Genuine rationality consists of truths, and 
not of falsities : that which consists of falsities is not rationality. 
Truths are of three kinds : there are civil truths, moral truths, 
and spiritual truths. Civil truths relate to matters of law, and 
such as concern the forms of government in states ; in general, to 
what belongs there to justice and equity. Moral truths relate 
to such matters as belong to the life of every one with respect to 
society and his intercourse with others ; in general, to sincerity 
and uprightness, and specifically, to the virtues of every kind. 
But spiritual truths relate to such matters as belong to heaven 
and the church ; and, in general, to good, which is the object of 
love, and to truth, which is the object of faith. There are, in 
every man, three degrees of life (see above, n. 267) : and the ra- 
tional faculty is opened to the first degree by means of civil truths, 
to the second degree by means of moral truths, and to the third 
by means of spiritual truths. But it is to be observed, that the 

256 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFTER DEATH, 468, 469 

rational faculty is not formed and opened merely by a man-s 
being acquainted with those truths, but by his living according 
to tliem : by living according to them is meant, his loving them 
from a spiritual affection ; and by loving them from a spiritual 
affection is meant, loving what is just and equitable because it 
is just and equitable ; what is sincere and upright because it is 
sincere and upright ; and what is good and true because it is good 
and true : whereas to live according to them and love them from 
corporeal affection, is to love them for the sake of one's self, of one's 
own reputation, honor, or gain. In proportion, consequently, as 
a man loves those truths from corporeal affection, he does not 
become rational : for then, the tniths are not what he loves, but 
himself, to whom they are serviceable, as servants are to their 
masters : and when truths are used merely as servants, they do 
not enter into the man, and open any degree of his life, not so 
much as the first ; but thev onlv reside in his memorv, as matters 
of external knowledge under a material form ; where they conjoin 
themselves with the love of self, which is corporeal love. From 
these facts it may appear, how man becomes rational ; and that 
he is made rational to the third degree by the spiritual love of 
good and truth, which are the constituents of heaven and of the 
church ; to the second degree, by the love of sincerity and up- 
rightness ; and to the first degree, by the love of justice and equity. 
These two latter loves are also rendered spiritual, by the spiritual 
love of good and truth ; for this enters into them by influx, joins 
itself with them, and forms in them, as it were, its own countenance. 
469. Spirits and angels possess memory, equally with men. 
Whatever they hear, see, think, will, or do, remains with them, 
and their rational faculty is continually cultivated by these means ; 
a process which goes on to eternity. It is owing to this, that spirits 
and angels are perfected in intelligence and wisdom, by means of 
the knowledges of truth and good, equally with men. That spii'its 
and angels have memory, is a fact that it has also been granted 
me to know by much experience. I have seen, when they have 
been in company with other spirits, that all the things that they 
had thought or done, whether in public or in private, were called 
forth from their memory : and I have seen, also, that those who 
have been grounded in any degree of truth, in consequence of 
having lived in simple good, were imbued with knowledges, and 
through them with intelligence, and were afterwards taken up 
into heaven. But it is to be observed, that none are imbued with 
knowledges and through them with intelligence, except to the 
extent ot the degree of affection for good and truth which had 
been opened in them in the world, but not beyond it. For with 
every spirit and angel remains the same affection, both as to 
quantity and to quality, as he had possessed in the world. This 
is afterwards perfected by impletion or filling up, a pr( )cess which 
goes on to eternity ; for there is nothing which cannot be filled 
IT ' 257 



470, 471 OF THE WOULD OF SPIRITS, AND 

up to eternity ; since every thing admits of being infinitely varied, 
and thus of being enriched, consequently, multiplied and rendered 
fruitful, by various means. 'No end can be assigned to any thing 
that is good, because it proceeds from Him who is Infinite. (That 
spirits and angels are continually perfected in intelligence and 
wisdom by knowledges of truth and good, may be seen in the 
Sections on the Wisdom of the Angels of Heaven, nn. 265 — 275 ; 
on the State in Heaven of the Gentiles, or Natives of Countries 
not within the limits of the Church, nn. 318 — 328 ; and on Infants 
or Little Children in Heaven, nn. 329 — 345. And that this is 
accomplished to the extent of the degree of affection for good 
and truth which had been opened in them in the world, but not 
]>eyond it, n. 349.) 



THAT MAN AFTER DEATH IS, IN QUALITY, SUCH AS HIS LIFE 
HAD BEEN IN THE WORLD. 

470. That his own life remains with every one after death, is 
known to every Christian from the Word ; for it is therein de- 
clared, in many places, that man shall be judged and rewarded 
according to his deeds and according to his works. Every one, 
also, who thinks under the influence of good, and of real truth, 
has no other idea, than that he who has lived well will go to 
heaven, and he who has lived ill will go to hell. Those, however, 
who are immersed in evil, are unwilling to believe that their state 
after death will be according to their life in the world ; but they 
think, especially wlien on a sick bed, that heaven is awarded to 
every one of the pure mercy of the Lord, let his life have been 
what it may ; and that it is given to men according to their faith ; 
which such persons separate from life. 

471. That man will be judged and rewarded according to his 
deeds and according to his works, is declared in the Word in 
many places, of which I will here adduce some. '^T/ie Son of 
man shall coine in the glory of his Father^ with his angels / 
and then he shall reward every man according to his worltsP — 
(Matt. xvi. 27.) ''''Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord^from 
henceforth: j^ea^ saith the Spirit j that they may rest from their 
labors: and their works do follow them?'' — (Rev. xiv. 13.) "/ 
will give nnto every one of you according to your works!''' — (Rev. 
ii. 23.) "/ saw the dead^ small and great^ stand before God i 

and the hooks were opened: and the dead were judged ont of 

those things which icere written in the hooks ^ according to their 
wo7'ks. And the sea gave np the dead that were in it j and, death 
and hell delivered icp the dead' that were in them, j and they vjere 
judged every man according to their loorks^ — (Rev. xx. 12, 13.) 
^'jBehold, I come quickly j and my reward is with 7ne, to give 

258 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 471, 4:72 

every man according a^ Ms work shall he^ — (Rev. xxii. 12.) 
'^ whosoever heareih these sayings of viine., and doeth thetn^ I 
icill liken him unto a wise man^ that huilt his house upon a 

rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine., and 

doeth them nots shall he likened unto a foolish man^ that huilt his 
house upon the sandy — (Matt. vii. 21, 26.) ^''Not every one that 
saith unto me., Lord^ Lord., shall enter into the kingdom of heav- 
en i hut he that doeth the icill of my Father who is in heaven. 
Many icill say unto me in that day., Lord., Lord., have we not 
"prophesied iii thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? 
and in thy name have done many wonderful ivorks? And then 
L will prof ess unto them., L never knew you: depart from m^, 
ye that ivork iniquity. '^^-— (Matt vii. 21, 22, 23.) ^'LTien shall ye 
begin to say^ We have eaten and drunk in thy presence^ and thou 
hast taught in our streets. But he shall say., Lknow you not 
whence ye are j depart from me., all ye workers of iniquity.'''* — 
(Luke xiii. 26, 27.) ''''I will recompense them according to their 
deeds., and according to the works qf their own hands?'' — (Jerem. 
XXV. 14.) ''''Thine eyes are upon all the ways of the sons of men., 
to give every one according to his ways., and according to the fruit 
of his doings y — (Jerem. xxxii. 19.) "Z will punish them for 
their ways., and reward them their doings^ — (Hos. iv. 9.) ''''Like 
as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us., according to ov/r ways^ 
and according to our doings., so hath he dealt with us.''^ — (Zech. 
i. 6.) Whenever the Lord foretells the last judgment, he mentions 
nothing but works, and declares that those who have done good 
works shall enter into life eternal, and those who have done evil 
works into damnation. (See Matt. xxv. 32 — 16 : not to mention 
many other places, in which the subject treated of is man's sal- 
vation or condemnation.) That the works and deeds constitute 
man's external life, and that by them is made manifest what is 
the quality of his internal life, is evident. 

472. But by deeds and works are not merely meant deeds and 
works as they apj)ear in their external form, but as they appear 
internally. Every one knows, that every deed or w^ork proceeds 
from the will and thought of the doer ; for otherwise they would be 
mere motions, such as are performed by automatons and images. 
The deed or work, then, viewed in itself, is nothing but an eftect, 
which derives its soul and life from the wiU and thought from 
which it is performed ; and so completely is this the case, that 
the deed or work is the will and thought in their effect, and is, 
consequently, the will and thought in their external form. It 
hence follows, that such as are, in quality, the will and thought 
which produce the deed or work, such, also, is the deed or work 
itself ; and that if the thought and will are good, the deeds or 
works are good ; and if the thought and will are evil, the deeds 
and works are evil, notwithstanding, in their external form, they 
mav appear like the former. A thousand men may act in a 

259 



i72, 473 OF THE WOELD OF SPIRITS, Am. 

similar manner, or perform similar deeds, — so similar, in fact, 
that, as to their external form, it shall scarcely be possible to 
distinguish one from the others, — and yet, viewed in themselves, 
every one of them is dissimilar, because proceeding from a dis- 
similar will. Let us take, as an example, a man's acting sincerely 
and justly with his neighbor. One person may act sincerely 
and justly with his neighbor, with the view of appearing to be a 
sincere and just man, ont of regard to himself and his own honor ; 
another may do the same, out of regard to the world and to gain ; 
a third, for the sake of obtaining reward, and to set up a claim of 
merit; a fourth, from motives of friendship ; a fifth, out of fear 
of the law, and of the loss of reputation, and, consequently, of 
oflBce or business ; a sixth, to draw over another to his own side, 
though his cause may be a bad one ; a seventh, in order to de- 
ceive ; and others may do it from other motives still. Now the 
deeds of all these, though good in appearance, since it is good to 
act sincerely and justly with our neighbor, are nevertheless, evil ; 
because they are not done out of regard to sincerity and justice, 
or because the doers love these virtues, but out of regard to self 
and the world, these being what the doers love ; and to the love 
of these, sincerity and justice are made to act as servants, like 
domestic servants to their master, whom the master despises and 
dismisses when they are serviceable to him no longer. Those, 
also, act sincerely and justly with their neighbor, in a manner 
which, in external form, presents a similar appearance, who do it 
from the love of sincerity and justice. Of these, some act from 
the truth of faith, or out of obedience, because it is so commanded 
in the Word ; some from the good of faith, or under the influence 
of conscience, because from a principle of religion ; some from the 
good of charity towards their neighbor, because his good ought to 
be consulted ; some from the good of love to the Lord, because 
good ought to be done for its own sake, consequently, sincerity 
and justice ought to be practised for their own sake likewise ; 
and such persons love these principles because they come from 
the Lord, and because the Divine Sphere proceeding from the 
Lord has in them a residence, in consequence of which, those 
goods, viewed in their absolute essence, are divine. The deeds or 
works of all these persons are interiorly good ; on which account, 
they are exteriorly good, also: for, as just observed, deeds or 
works are precisely such in quality, as are the thought and will 
from which they proceed, and, independently of these, they are 
not deeds and works at all, but mere inanimate motions. From 
these truths may evidently appear, what is meant by deeds and 
works in the Word. 

473. Since deeds and works are the products of will and 
thought, they also are the products of love and faith, and, con- 
sequently, are such in quality as the love and faith are : for 
wliether you speak of man's love, or of his will, it amounto to 
260 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFl'EK DEATH. 473, 474 

the same thing ; and so it does whether you speak of his faith 
or of his deliberate thought; since what a man loves, he also 
wills, and what he believes, he also thinks. If a man loves 
what he believes, he wills it too, and, as far as he" is able, he 
does it. Every one may know, that love and feith reside in 
man's will and thought, and do not exist out of them ; since the 
will is that which is enkindled by love, and the thought is that 
which is enlightened in matters relating to faith ; on which 
account, none but those who are able to think wisely are en- 
lightened, and they, according to such illumination, both think 
truths, and will them ; or, what amounts to the same, both 
believe truths, and love them.(*) 

474. But it is to be observed, that it is the will that con- 
stitutes the man, and only the thought so far as it proceeds from 
the will ; and that the deeds or works proceed from both. Or, 
what amounts to the same, that it is love that constitutes the 
man, and only faith so far as it proceeds from love ; and that the 
deeds or works proceed from both. It follows, that the will or 
love is the man himself; since every thing that proceeds, belongs 
to that from which it proceeds. To proceed, is to be brought 
forth and presented in a suitable form, in order that it may 
appear and be apprehended.(^ From these truths may evi- 
dently be seen, what faith is separate from love ; that, in reality, 
it is not faith at all, but only a matter of superficial knowledge, 
possessing within it no spiritual life. It may equally be seen, 
what a deed or work is without love ; that, in reality, it is not a 
living deed or work, but a dead one, having in it an appearance 
of life imparted by the love of evil and a faith in what is false. 
This appearance of life is what is called spiritual death. 

(') That as all things in the universe, which exist according to order, have reference 
to good and truth, so, with man, they have reference to will and understanding, un. 
803, 10,122. Tlie reason is, because the will is recipient of erood, and the understand- 
ing is recipient of truth, nn. 3332, 3623, 5232, 6065, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9995. It amounts 
to the same thing, whether we speak of truth or faith, because faith is of truth and 
truth is of faith ; and it amounts to the same thing, whether we speak of good or of 
love, because love is of good and good is of love, nn. 4353, 4997, 7178, 10,122, 10,367. 
Hence it follows, that the understanding is recipient of faith, and the will of love, nn. 
7179, 10,122, 10,367. And since the understanding of man is capable of receiving faith 
in God, and the will capable of receiving love to God, it follows that man is capable of 
being conjoined with God in faith and love, and he who is capable of being conjoined 
with God in love and faith can never die, nn. 4525, 602 1, 9231. 

C^) That the will of man is the very esse of his life, because it is the receptacle (^f 
love or good ; and that the understanding is the exisfere of life thence derived, because 
it is the receptacle of faith or truth, nn. 3619, 5002, 92S2. Thus that the life of the will 
is the principal life of man, and that the life of the understanding proceeds thence, nn. 
585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10,076, 10,109, 10,110. In like manner as light from 
fire or flame, nn. 6032, 6314. Ilenee it follows that man is man by virtue of his will, 
and of his understanding thence derived, nn. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10,076, 10,109, 10,110. 
Every man is loved and esteemed by others according to the good of his will, and of 
his understanding thence derived \ for he is loved and esteemed who wills well and 
understands well, and he is rejected and despised who understands well and does not 
will well, nn. 8911, 10,076. That man, also, after death, remains such as his will is 
and his understanding thence derived, nn. 9069, 9071, 9386, 10,153. Consequently, 
that man, at\er death, remains such as his love is and his faith thence derived, and. 
that the things which, belong to faith, and not at the same time to his love, theu 
vaa'sh, because they are not in the man, and thus are not the man's, nn. 553, 2364, 10,i58i 

261 



475 itT OF THE WOKLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

475. It is to be observed, further, that in the deeds or works 
the whole man is included, and that his will and thought, or his 
love and faith, which constitute his interiors, are not complete, 
till they exist in deeds or w^orks, which constitute his exteriors : 
for these are the ultimates in which the former terminate, and 
without which the former are things not terminated, which as 
yet, do not exist, and thus, as yet, are not in the man. To 
think and to will, without doing when there is opportunity, are 
like a flaming substance shut up in a close vessel, by which it is 
extinguished ; or like seed cast on the sand, which does not 
germinate, but perishes w^ith all its prolific nature : w^hereas to 
think and to will, when they result in doing, are like a flaming 
substance in the open air, which diffuses heat and light all 
around ; or like seed sown in the ground, which grows into a 
tree or flower, and continues, to exist. Every one may know, 
that to will, and not to do, when there is opportunity, is in 
reality not to will ; and that for a man to love good, and not to 
do it, when the means are afforded, is in reality not to love it ; 
consequently, that it is only thinking that he wills and loves, 
and thus is only thought separate from will or love ; which soon 
vanishes, and comes to nothing. Love and will are the very 
soul of deeds and works ; and this forms itself a body in the 
sincere and just actions that the man performs. The spiritual 
body, or the body of a man's spirit, has no other origin ; that is, 
it is formed of no other things than those w^hich the man 
performs from his love or will. (See above, n. 463.) In one 
w^ord, all things that belong to a man and to his spirit are in- 
cluded in his deeds or works. (^) 

476. From these statements may now appear with certainty, 
what is meant, by the life which remains with man after death ; 
that, in reality, it is his love and his faith thence derived, not 
only as existing potentially, but also as existing in act : con- 
sequently, that it consists of his deeds or works ; since these 
contain within them all things belonging to the man's love and 
faith. 

477. What remains with man after death, is his governing 
love ; nor is this ever changed to eternity. Every man is the 
subject of many loves ; but still, they all have reference to his 
governing love, and make with it a one, or, taken altogether, 
compose it. All things belonging to the will which agree with 
the governing love, are called loves, because they are loved. 

(') That interior things successively flow into exterior, even into the extreme or 
ultimate, and that there they exist and subsist, nn. 634, 6451, 6465, 9216. That they 
not only flow-in, but also form in the ultimate what is simultaneous, in what order, nn. 
5897, 6451, 8603, 10,099. That hence all interior things are held together in connection, 
and subsist, n. 9828. That deeds or works are the ultimates, containing interior things, 
n. 10,331. Wherefore to be recompensed and judged according to deeds and woiks is 
to be recompensed and judged according to all things belonging to the love and faith, 
or to the man's will and thought, because these are the interior things contAined la 
them, nn. 3147, 3934, 6073, 8911, 10,331, 10,338. 

262 



OF THE STATE OF IMAN AFTER DEATH. 478, 479 

These loves are both interior and exterior : there are some 
which are in immediate connection with the governing love, and 
some whose connection is of the mediate kind : there are some 
which are nearer to it, and some which are more remote : but 
all serve its purposes in various ways. Taken collectively, they 
constitute, as it were, a kingdom, and are arranged with man in 
such order ; although the man is totally ignorant of their pos- 
sessing such an arrangement. It is, however, in some degree 
made manifest to him, in the other life ; for it is according to 
their arrangement that the diffusion of his thought and affection 
around him is there regulated, that diffusion being directed into 
heavenly societies, if his governing love is composed of the loves 
of heaven, but into infernal societies, if his governing love is 
composed of the loves of hell. (That ail the thought and affec- 
tion of spirits and angels have diffusion into the societies around, 
may be seen above, in the Section on the Wisdom of the Angels 
of Heaven ; and in that on the Form of Heaven, according to 
which the Consociations and Communications of the Inhabitants 
are arranged.) 

478. But the truths which have hitherto been advanced, only 
affect the thought of the rational man : that they may also be 
rendered apprehensible to the senses, I will adduce some ex- 
perimental facts, by which the same truths may be illustrated 
and confirmed. I will show then, Fikst : That Man, after 
Death, is his own Love, or his own Will : Secondly : That, in 
quality, Man remains to eternity such as he is with respect to 
his will or governing Love : Thirdly : that the Man whose 
Love is celestial and spiritual, goes to Heaven : but that the 
Man whose Love is corporeal and worldly, destitute of such as 
is celestial and spiritual, goes to Hell : Fourthly : That Faith 
does not remain with Man, if not grounded in heavenly Love : 
Fifthly : That what remains with Man is Love in Act ; con- 
sequently, his Life. 

479. L That Man^ after Death^ is his own Love^ or his own 
Will. This has been testified to me by abundant experimental 

evidence. The whole of heaven is divided into societies accord- 
ing to the differences of the love of good ; and every spirit who 
is elevated to heaven and becomes an angel, is led to the society 
in which his love prevails, and when he comes thither, he is as 
if he were at home, or as if living in the house in which he was 
bom. Of this the angel has a perception ; and he there is 
connected in society with other angels that are similar to him- 
self When he goes thence, and comes to some other place, he 
always is sensible of a certain inward resistance, and he is 
affected with a desire to return to his like, and thus to his own 
governing love. It is thus that the inhabitants are connected 
together in societies in heaven. The like occurs in hell ; where, 
also, the inhabitants are connected tosrether in societies accord- 

263 



i79 OF THE WOKLD OF SPIKITS, AND 



iug to tJie loves that are the opposites of heavenly ones. (That 
heaven is constituted of innumerable societies ; and hell, like- 
wise ; and that thej all are distinctlj arranged according to the 
differences of their love, may be seen above, nn. 41 — 50, and nn. 
200^ — 212.) That man, after death, is his own love, may also 
appear evidently from the fact, that then those things are re- 
moved, and in a manner taken away from him, which do not 
make one with his governing love. If he is good, all things 
that are discordant, or that disagree with his good, are removed, 
and in a manner taken away, and he is thus let into his own 
love. The like is done if he is evil. The difference is, that 
truths are taken away from the wicked, and falsities from the 
good ; a process which does not terminate, till every one is 
made his own love. This is effected, when a man, now a spirit, 
is brought to his third state, which will be treated of in a subse- 
quent Section. When this is accomplished, the spirit constantly 
turns his face to his own love, which he has perpetually before 
his eyes, let him turn himself about as he may. (See above, nn. 
123, 124.) All spirits may be led wherever it is wished, pro- 
vided they be held fast in their governing love; nor are they 
able to resist the attraction, how perfectly soever they may know 
that it is exercised upon them, and how firmly soever they may 
think that they wdll resist it. The experiment has often been 
tried, whether they could do any thing in opposition to it ; and 
it was found, that to attempt it w^as in vain. Their love is like 
a chain or a cord, bound, as it were, around them, by which 
they may be drawn along, and to extricate themselves from 
which is out of their power. The like occurs in the world: 
their own love leads men also, and by means of it they ai^e 
led by others : much more is this the case when they become 
spirits ; for then it is not allowable for any one to make a show, 
in appearance, of any different love, and to assume, in pretence, 
what is not his own. That a man's spirit is his governing love, 
is made evident, in the other life, in every company : for so far 
as any one acts or speaks in agreement with the love of another, 
the latter appeai^s wholly present, wearing an expanded, cheerful, 
lively countenance : but so far as any one acts or speaks in oppo- 
sition to another's love, his countenance begins to change, to be- 
come obscure, and not to appear ; and at length he disappears 
wholly, as if he had not been there. I have often \Yondei*ed at 
this phenomenon, because nothing of the kind can take place in 
the world : but it was told me, that a similar phenomenon does 
occur with the spirit that is within a man ; for when this turns 
itself away from another, it no longer remains in his sight. That 
the spirit is his own governing love, was also made evident by 
this circumstance: that every spirit eagerly seizes, and appro- 
priates to himxself, all things that agree with his love : and re- 
jects, and separates from himself, all things that do not so agreei 
264 



OJT TIIE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 479, 4^1 

The lovo of every one is like the spongy and porous wood oi' a 
tree, which imbibes such fluids as promote its vegetation, and 
rejects all others. It is also like animals of every kind, which 
know their proper aliments, and seek after such as agree with 
their nature, while they show aversion for such as do not. For 
every love desires to be nourished by its own aliments, — evil 
love by falsities, and good love by truths. It has sometimes 
been given me to observe, that certain simple good spirits wished 
to instruct evil ones in truths and goods, but that the latter fled 
far away from the proflered instruction, and when they came to 
their proper companions, embraced with great pleasure such 
falsities as were suitable to their love. I have also had opportu- 
nities given me for observing, that when good spirits were con- 
versing among themselves respecting truths, other good spirits 
that were present listened with desire for information ; whereas 
some evil spirits that were present also, paid no attention what- 
ever to the conversation, and behaved as if they did not hear it. 
There appear, in the world of spirits, various ways, some of 
which lead to lieaven, and some to hell, each conducting to some 
particular society. The good spiiits enter no other ways than 
those which lead to heaven, and to the society in which the good 
of their own love prevails ; nor do they see the ways which tend 
in any other direction : whereas evil spirits enter no other ways 
than those which lead to hell, and to that society of hell in 
which the evil of then* own love prevails ; nor do they see the 
ways that tend in any other direction ; and if they do, they still 
are not willing to walk in them. Such ways, in the spiritual 
world, are real appearances, which correspond either to truths or 
to falsities ; wherefore this is the signiflcation of ways, when 
mentioned in the Word.('*) By these experimental evidences are 
confirmed the truths before advanced from reason ; that every 
man, after death, is his own love, and his own will. The 
wiU is mentioned, because the actual will of every one is his 
love. 

480. II. That, in quality^ Man remains to Eternity^ such as he 
is with respect to his Will^ or governing Love. This, also, has 
been confirmed to me by much experimental evidence. It has 
been granted to me to converse with some who lived two 
thousand years ago, whose life was known to me, because de- 
scribed in history : and it was ascertained, that they are still 
like what they then were, and are exactly of the character as- 
signed to them in the description, being similar with respect to 
their love, from and according to which their life had been 



(*) That a way, a path, a road, a street, a broad street, signify truths which lead to 
good; and also, falsities which lead to evil, nu. 627, 2333, 10,422. That to sweep a 
way denotes lo prepare for the reception of truths, n. 3142. That to make a way 
known, when couoeruing the Lord, denotes to instruct in tr.iths which lead to good, 

265 



4:80, 481 OF THE WOELD oF SPIRITS, AND 

framed. Tiiere were others with whom it was granted me to 
converse, who lived seventeen centuries ago, who also were 
known to me from history ; others who lived four centuries 
ago ; others who lived three ; and so on downwards : and it was 
discovered, that a similar affection to that which governed them 
in the world, reigned in them still ; there being no other differ- 
ence, than that their delights were turned into such things as 
are correspondent. It has been told me by the angels, that the 
life of the governing love is never changed with any one to 
eternity, since every one is his own love ; on which account, to 
change it in a spirit, were to deprive him of his life, or to 
extinguish him altogether. They also stated what is the cause 
of this ; which is, that man, after death, is no longer capable oi 
being reformed by means of instruction, as he is in the world, 
because the ultimate plane, which consists ^f natural knowl- 
edges and affections, is then quiescent, and is incapable of being 
opened, as not being spiritual (see above, n. 464) ; and that the 
interiors, which belong to the internal and external minu, rest 
upon that plane, like a house upon its foundation ; on which 
account it is, that man remains to eternity such as the life of 
his love had been in the world. The angels wonder exceedingly 
that man should not be aware, that every one is such in quality 
as his governing love is ; and that many should believe, that 
they may be saved by immediate mercy, and by faith alone, ot 
whatever character they may have been as to life ; also, that 
they are not aware that the Divine Mercy operates by means, 
consisting in being led by the Lord, both in the world, and 
afterwaixls to eternity ; and that those are led by mercy who do 
not live in evil. They also are surprised that men should not be 
aware, that faith is the affection of truth proceeding from heav- 
enly love, the Author of which is the Lord. 

481. III. That the Man whose Love i^ celestial and spiritual 
goes to Heaven / hut that the Mam. whose Love is oorjpareal and 
worldly^ destitute of such as is celestial and spiritualy goes to 
LLell. Respecting this, I was enabled to arrive at certainty, 
from all whom I have seen taken up into heaven,'on the one 
hand, and cast into hell, on the other. Those who were taken 
up into heaven were in the enjoyment of a life grounded in 
celestial and spiritual love ; whereas those who were cast into 
hell were sunk in a life grounded in love corporeal and worldly. 
Heavenly love consists in a man's loving good, sincerity, and 
justice, for their own sakes, and, from such love, in doing them : 
whence such persons are in the enjoyment of the life of good, 
sincerity, and justice, which is the heavenly life. Those who 
love those principles for their own sakes, and who practise them, 
or realize them in their life, also love the Lord above all things, 
because those excellences proceed from Him : they likewise 
love their neighbor, because those excellences are the ueighboi 
266 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 481 

whom we are required to love.(^) But corporeal love consists 
in a man's loving good, sincerity, and justice, not for their own 
Bakes, but out of regard to himself, because bj them as means, 
he seeks after reputation, rank, and gain. Such persons, in 
good, sincerity', and justice, do not regard the Lord and their 
neighbor, but themselves and the world, and feel delight in 
fraud; and good, sincerity, and justice, when practised with 
fraudulent motives, are evil, insincerity, and injustice; which 
are the things that such persons love in the former. Since his 
loves are what, in this manner, determine the quality of the life 
of every one, all, as soon as they enter the spiritual world after 
death, are examined as to what quality they are of, and are 
connected, by invisible bonds, with those who are grounded in 
similar love ; those who are grounded in heavenly love being in 
this manner connected with the inhabitants of heaven, and 
those who are immersed in corporeal love with the inhabitants 
of hell. After having completed their first and second states, 
the two classes are separated, so as neither to see nor know each 
other any more : for every one becomes his own love, not only 
as to his interiors, which belong to the mind, but also as to his 
exteriors, which are those* of his face, body, and speech. Thus 
every one becomes the image of his own love, even in external 
appearance. Those who are forms of corporeal love, appear 
dull, dusky, black, and ugly : whereas those who are forms of 
heavenly love, appear lively, bright, fair, and beautiful : for the 
two classes are utterly unlike each other in their minds and 
thoughts. Those who are forms of heavenly love, are, also, 
intelligent and wise : whereas those who are forms of corporeal 
love, are stupid and like idiots. When an inspection is granted 
of the interiors and exteriors of the thought and affection of 
those who are in the enjoyment of heavenly love, their interiors 
appear to wear the resemblance of light, and those of some, the 
resemblance of flamino^ lio^ht ; while their exteriors exhibit vari- 
ous beautiful colors, like those of the rainbow ; whereas the 
interiors of those who are sunk in corporeal love, appear like 

(*) That the Lord, in the supreme sense, is our neighbor, because He ought to be 
loved above all things ; but that to love the Lord is to love that which is from him, 
because He himself is in every thing which is from Himself; thus, it is to love what is 
good and true, nn. 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711, 6819, 6823, 8123. That to love what is good 
and true, which is from Him, is to live according to those principles, and that this is to 
love the Lord, nn. 10,143, 10,158, 10,310, 10,336, 10,578, 10,645. That every man, and 
society ; also, a man's country and the church ; and, in the universal sense, the king- 
dom of the Lord ; are our neighbor ; and that to do them good from the love of good, 
According to the quality of their state, is to love the neighbor; thus tb.eir good, which 
is to be consulted, is our neighbor, nn. 6818 — 6824, 8123. That moral good, also, which 
is sincerity, and civil good, which is justice, are our neighbor; and that to act sincerely 
and justly from the love of sincerity and justice is to love one's neighbor, nn. 2915, 
473 :>, 8120—8123. Hence that charity towards the neighbor extends itself to all things? 
belonging to the life of man, and that to do what is good and just, and to act sincerely 
fi-<jm the heart, in every occupation, and in all our dealings, is tf love one's neighbor, 
nn. 2417, 8121, 8124. That the doctrine received in the ancient church was the doc 
trine of charity, acd that hence they had wisdom, nn. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420, 4844, 
6628. 

267 



4:81, 482 OF THE WOELD OF SPIRITS, ANB 

something black, because they are closed ; and those of some 
have a dusky fiery appearance, this bein^ the appearance of 
the interiors of those who interiorly cherish malignant deceit; 
whilst their exteriors exhibit frightful colors, melancholy to be- 
hold. It is to be borne in mind, that the interiors and the exte- 
riors belonging both to the internal and the external mind, are, 
in the spiritual world, when the Lord sees good, rendered objects 
of sight.^ Those who are immersed in corporeal love, see noth- 
ing in the light of heaven, that light being to them thick dark- 
ness : whereas the light of hell, which is like that proceeding 
from ignited charcoal, is to them like clear light. In the light 
of heaven, also, their interior sight is darkened, to such an ex- 
treme, that they become insane ; wherefore they flee from it, and 
hide themselves in dens and caverns, of a depth proportioned to 
the falsities grounded in evil that possess their minds ; whilst, on 
the contrary, those who are grounded in heavenly love, the more 
interiorly or eminently they enter into the light of heaven, the 
more clearly do they see all things, and the more beautiful do 
the objects appear to them ; whilst they apprehend truths more 
intelligently and wisely in the same proportion. Those who are 
immersed in corporeal love, cannot possibly live in the heat of 
heaven, the heat of heaven being heavenly love ; but only in the 
heat of hell, which is the love of exercising cruelty upon those 
who do not favor them. Contempt of others, enmity, hatred, 
•revenge, are the delights of that love ; and when they are in the 
exercise of these, they are in the enjoyment of their life ; being 
utterly ignorant of what it is to do good to others from good 
itself, and for the sake of good itself; but only knowing what it 
is to do good from evil, and for the sake of evil. Neither can 
those who are sunk in corporeal love so much as breathe in 
heaven. As soon as any evil spirit is taken thither, he pants for 
breath, like a person in the agonies of death. On the other hand, 
those who are grounded in heavenly love, breathe the more freely, 
and live more fully, in proportion as they are more interiorly in 
heaven. From these facts it may be evident, that celestial and 
spiritual love constitutes heaven with man, because, on that love, 
all the constituents of heaven are inscribed : whereas corporeal 
and worldly love, destitute of such as is celestial and spiritual, 
constitutes hell with man, because, on those loves are inscribed 
all the constituents of hell. It manifestly follows, that the man 
whose love is celestial and 'spiritual, goes to heaven ; but that 
the man w^hose love is corporeal and worldly, destitute of such as 
is celestial and spiritual, goes to hell. 

482. TV. Tliat Faith does not remain in Man^if net ground- 
ed in heavenly Love. This has been made manifest to me by so 
much experimental evidence, that if I were to recite all that I 

* See abjve, n. 466.— iV: 

268 



OF THE STATE OF MAX ^VFTER DEATH. 483, 484 

have seen and heard relating to this subject, it would fill a vol- 
ume. This I can testify, that no faith whatever exists, nor can 
any be imparted, with those who are immei*sed in corporeal and 
worldly love destitute of such as is celestial and spiritual ; and 
that what passes for such is a mere superficial knowledge, or 
persuasion, that the faith professed is truth, because it serves to 
promote the objects of their love. Many, also, of those who 
imagined themselves to have been possessed of faith, were brought 
to those who really were so ; and when a communication with 
them was opened, the former perceived that they had no fixith at 
all. They also confessed, afterwards, that merely believing the 
truth, and the Word, does not constitute faith, but loving truth 
fi'om heavenly love, and willing and doing it from interior afiec- 
tion. It was also shown, that then* persuasion, which they 
called faith, was only like the light of winter, during which sea- 
son, there being no heat in the light, all the objects on earth lie 
torpid, locked up in frost, and buried in snow ; on w^hich account, 
no sooner is the light of their persuasive faith, as existing with 
them, stricken by tlie rays of the light of heaven, than it is not 
only extinguished, but actually becomes like thick darkness, in 
which no one can see himself: whilst their interiors are so dark- 
ened at the same time, that they cannot understand any thing 
whatever, and at last become insane with falsities. For this 
reason, all the truths which such persons had been acquainted 
with, derived from the Word and from the doctrine of the church, 
and had called the truths of their faith, are taken aw^ay from 
them, and they are imbued, instead, with every falsity that 
agrees with the evil of their life ; for all are let into their own 
loves, and, at the same time, into the falsities that agree with 
those loves. After this, they hate truths, hold them in avei^ion, 
and thus reject them, because truths are repugnant to the falsi- 
ties of evil in which they are immersed. This I am able to tes- 
tify, from all the experience I have had respecting the concerns 
of heaven and of hell, that all those who have made profession 
of faith alone as their doctrine, and have been immei^ed in evil 
as to life, are in hell. I have seen them cast thither to the num- 
ber of many thousands. (Oil which subject, see the treatise On 
the Last Judgment^ and the Destruction of Bahylon.) 

483. Y. That what remains with Man^ is Love in act; 
consequently^ hi-'i Life. This follows as a conclusion from all 
the experimental evidence that has now been adduced, and from 
the truths advanced above respecting deeds and works. Love 
in act, is work and deed. 

484. It is to be observed, that all works and deeds are matters 
belonging to the moral and civil life, and, consequently, that 
they have respect to sincerity and uprightness, and to justice 
and equity. Sincerity and uprightness are virtues belonging to 
the moral life ; and justice and equity are vh'tues belonging to 

269 



485, 486 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AIND 

the civil life. Tlie love from which thej are practised is either 
heavenly or infernal. The works and deeds of moral and civil 
life are heavenly, if they are performed from heavenly love ; for 
whatever is done from heavenly love is done from the Lord, and 
whatever is done from the Lord, is good. Whereas the deeds 
and works of moral and civil life are infernal, if they are per- 
formed from infernal love ; for whatever is done from this love, 
which is the love of self and the w jrld, is done from man himsellj 
and whatever is done from man himself, is, in itself, evil ; for man 
reojarded in himself, or as to his ^ropriwn, is nothing but evil.(^) 



THAT THE DELIGHTS OF THE LIFE OF EVERY ONE ARE TURNED, 
AFTER DEATH, INTO 'CORRESPONDENT ONES. 

485. That the governing affection or dominant love remains 
with every one to eternity, has been shown in the preceding 
Section: that the delights of that affection or love are turned 
into correspondent ones, is to be shown now. By being turned 
into correspondent ones, is meant, into such spiritual delights as 
correspond to the natural ones. That they are turned into spirit- 
ual delights, may evidently appear from the fact, that man, so 
long as he lives in his terrestrial body, exists in the natural world ; 
but after he has left that body, he enters the spiritual world, and 
puts on a spiritual body. (That the angels exist in perfect human 
form, as do men, also, after death ; and that the bodies with which 
they are then invested are spiritual ones, may be seen above, nn. 
7S — 7T, and 453 — ^^460. And for what is meant by the corre- 
spondence between spiritual things and such as are natural, see 
nn. 87—115.) 

486. All the delights which man enjoys are those of his 
governing love : for man feels nothing as delightful but what 
he loves ; consequently, what he feels as most delightful is what 
he loves most of all. Whether you say, his governing love, or, 
what he loves most of all, it amounts to the same thing. Those 
delights are various ; in general, there are as many as there are 

(*) That the pfoprium of man consists in loving himself in preference to God, and 
the world in preference to heaven, and in making light of his neighbor in comparison 
with himself; thus that it consists in the love of self and of the wond, nn. 694, 731 , 4317. 
That it is this proprium into which man is born, and that it is dense evil, nn. 210, 215, 
731, 874, 875, 876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286, 
10,732. That from the proprlum of man cometh not only all that is evil, but likewise 
all that is false, nn. 1047, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286. That the evils, which come from the 
proprlum of man,^are contempt of others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit, nn. 
6667, 7370, 7373, 7374, 9348, 10,038, 10,742. That so far as W\Qproprivm''oi mivn bears 
rule, the good of love and the trutli of faith are either rejected, or suifocated, or per- 
verted, nn. 2041, 7491, 7492, 7643, 8487, 10,455, 10,742. That the proprlum of man is 
hell with him, nn. 694, 8480. That the g»" d which man does from the proprium^ is 
not good, but is in itself evil, n. 8480. 

270 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFTER DEATH. 486, 487 

governing loves ; consequently, there are as many deliglits as 
there are men, spirits, and angels : for the governing love of one 
is nev^er in all respects similar to that of another. It is owing to 
this, that the face of one person is never exactly similar to that 
of another ; for the face, in every one, is the image of his mind, 
and, in the spiritual world, is the image of his governing love. 
The delights of every one in particular are also of infinite variety ; 
nor is one delight of any individual, ever in all respects similar 
to, or the same with, another ; and this is true, both in regard to 
those delights which occur in succession one after another, and 
to those which exist together, one simultaneously with another. 
Xo one delight that is the same as another can ever exist. 
!N^evertheless, these delights that exist specifically with every 
individual, have reference to the one love belonging to him, 
which is, his governing love ; for they compose it, and, conse- 
quently, make one with it. In the same manner, all delights m 
general have reference to one universally governing love ; which, 
in heaven, is the love of the Lord ; and, in hell, the love of 
self 

487. What, and of what nature, are the spiritual delights, 
into which the natural delights of every one are turned after 
death, can only be known from the science of correspondences. 
This teaches in general, that no natural thing can exist, which 
has not its corresponding spiritual one : and it also teaches, in 
particular, what, and of what nature, the coiTesponding thing is. 
On this account, a person skilled in that science, may know, and 
become acquainted with, his own state after death, provided he 
is acquainted with his own love, and knows what station it occu- 
pies in that universally governing love, to which all loves have 
reference ; as observed just now. But it is impossible for those 
who are immersed in the love of self to be acquainted with their 
governing love ; because they love whatever is their own, and 
call their evils goods, denominating, at the same time, the falsities 
which favor their evils, and by the help of which they confirm 
them, truths. Nevertheless, if they please, they may learn it 
from others who are wise ; for such persons see things which 
they themselves do not see. Those, however, refuse to be taught, 
who are so wholly engrossed by the love of self, as to reject all 
admonition proffered by the wise. But those who are grounded 
in heavenly love, accept instruction, and on being brought into 
the evils into which they were born, see them to be such by the 
truths which they have learned ; for these make evils manifest. 
Every one may, from such truth as originates in good, see evil 
and its falsity ; but no one can, from evil, see good and tnith : 
the reason is, because falsities grounded in evil are darkness, 
and actually correspond to darkness ; on which account, those 
who are immersed in falsities grounded in evil are like blind 
men, who cannot see objects placed in the lio-ht ; and they ac- 

271 



fiST, 488 OF THE WOELD OF SPIKITS, AKD 

tually flee from such objects, as owls do.(^) On the other htind, 
truths from good are light, and actually correspond to light (see 
above, nn. 126 — 134) : on which account, those who are grounded 
in truths originating in good, are persons who see, and who have 
their eyes open ; and they distinguish between the things that 
belong to the light, and those that belong to the shade. In 
regard to these truths, also, it has been granted me to receive 
confirmation by experimental evidence. The angels in heaven 
both see and perceive the evils and falsities w^hich sometimes 
rise up in themselves ; as w^ell as the evils and falsities in which 
those spirits are immersed, who, while yet in the world of spirits, 
are connected by invisible bonds with the hells : whereas those 
spirits themselves are unable to see their own evils and falsities. 
What the good of heavenly love is, what conscience, what sin- 
cerity and justice (unless as practised for self-advantage), what it 
is to be led by the Lord ; those spirits cannot conceive : they 
affirm that such things have no existence, and thus that they are 
not worth attending to. These statements are made to induce 
man to examine himself, and learn from his delights what his 
love is, and, in consequence, so far as he understands the science 
of correspondences, what w^ill be the state of his life after death. 
488. In what manner the delights of every one's life are turned 
after death into correspondent ones, may indeed be known from 
the science of correspondences ; but as that science has not yet 
been made public, I will throw some degree of light on the sub- 
ject by a few facts of experience. All who are immersed in evil, 
and who have confirmed themselves in falsities against the truths 
of the church, — especially those who have rejected the Word — 
shun the light of heaven, and betake themselves to places under 
ground, which, viewed at their apertures, appear very dark, and 
to the holes of rocks ; and there conceal themselves : the reason 
of which is, because they have loved falsities, and have hated 
truths ; for such places under ground, and the holes of rocks,(^ 
correspond to falsities ; as does darkness likewise ;* whereas light 
corresponds to truth. It is agreeable to them to dwell in such 
places, and disagreeable to reside in the open fields. The like is 
done by those, who took delight in laying snares clandestinely, 
and in secretly contriving deceitful machinations. These also 
abide in those underground places, and enter into chambers so 

(*) That darkness, in the Word, from correspondence signifies falsities, and thick 
iarkness, the falsities of evil, nn. 1889, 1860, 7688, 7711. That the hght of heaven is 
thick darkness to the evil, nn. 1861, 6832, 8197. That the inhabitants of the hells are 
said to be in darkness, because in the falsities of evil, concerning whom, nn. 334u, 4418, 
4531. That the blind, in the Word, signify those who are in falsities, and are not 
willing to be instructed, nn. 2383, 6990. 

(") Tliat a hole and cleft of a rock, in the "Word, signifies an obscure and ialse prin- 
ciple of faith, n. 10,582. Because a rock signifies faith from the Lord. nn. 8581, 10,580 ; 
and a stone the truth of faith, nn. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10,376. 

* That the above is the sense intended, is obvious ; but, in the Latin original, turn 
falsx^ tenehris, is erroneously printed, for turn tenebrce, falsis. The mistake was not 
corrected in either of the former translations. — iV. 

272 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 488, 489 

dark, that they cannot so much as see eacli other; in the comers 
of which they whisper into one another's ears. This is what the 
deho-ht of their love is turned into. Those who have studied the 
sciences, with no other end in view than to be esteemed men of 
learning, and have not cultivated their rational fiiculty by means 
of them, but who took delight in storing their memory, out of the 
Belf-conceit which possessed them on account of such attainments, 
love sandy places, preferring them to fields and gardens ; the 
reason of which is, that sandy places corresjDond to such studies. 
Those who have possessed an acquaintance with the doctrines of 
their o^vn and other churches, without having applied any thing 
that they knew to life, choose for their residence rocky situatioi^s, 
and dwell among heaps of stones ; shunning cultivated regions, 
because they regard such places with aversion. Those who have 
ascribed every thing to nature, and those who have attributed all 
to their own prudence, and w^ho, by various artifices, have raised 
themselves to honors and have gained wealth, devote themselves, 
in the other life, to magical arts, which are abuses of Divine Or- 
der; and find, in these, the greatest delight of their life. Those 
who have applied divine truths to promote their own loves, and 
thus have falsified them, love urinous substances and places, 
because these correspond to the delights of such love.(^) Those 
who have been sordid misers, dwell in cellars, and love the filth 
of swine, and such nidorous exhalations as proceed from indi- 
gested substances in the stomach. Those who have passed their 
life in mere pleasures, have lived delicately, and have indulged 
their palate and appetite, loving such enjoyments as the chief 
good of life, love, in the other life, dunghills and privies, which 
then become delightful to them : the reason of which is, because 
such pleasures are spiritual filth. They shun places that are 
clean, and free from filth, because these are disagreeable to them. 
Those who have taken delight in adulteries, reside in brothels, 
all the objects in which wear the aspect of mean and squalid 
wretchedness. These places they love, and shun chaste houses, 
on coming near to which they faint away. Nothing is more de- 
lightful to them than to cause breaches of the marriage-union. 
Those who have lusted for revenge, and who have thence acquired 
a savage and cruel nature, love cadaverous substances, or the 
places where they exist; and they also dwell in hells of that 
description. And so in other cases. 

489. But the delights of the life of those, who, in the world, 
have lived in heavenly love, are turned into corresponding objects, 
such as are seen in the heavens, which derive their existence from 
the sun of heaven, and from the light thence proceeding. That 
light exhibits to view such objects, as inwardly include things 
divine. The objects that are rendered apparent from this source, 
affect the interiors which belong to the minds of the angels, and 

(*) That the defilements of truth correspond to urine, n. 5390. 

18 273 



489 OF THE WOELD OF SPIRITS, AND 

the exteriors wMcli belong to their bodies at the same time. As 
the Divine Light, which is the Divine Truth proceeding from the 
Lord, flows into their minds, which are opened by heavenly love, 
it also exhibits, in externals, such objects to view, as correspond 
to the delights of their love. (That the objects which appear to 
the sight in heaven, correspond to the interiors of the angels, or 
to those which belong to their faith and love, and thence to their 
intelligence and wisdom, has been shown in the Section which 
treats of Representatives and Appearances in Heaven, nn. lYO — 
1Y6 ; and in that on the Wisdom of the Angels of Heaven, nn. 
265 — 275.) Since we have entered on the confirmation of this 
matter from experimental evidence, to illustrate the truths, drawn 
from the causes of things, previously advanced respecting it, I 
will also mention some facts respecting the heavenly delights, 
into which natural delights, as existing with those who, in the 
world, live in heavenly love, are turned. Those who have loved 
divine truths, and the Word, from interior aifection, or from an 
affection for truth itself, in the other world dwell in the light, in 
elevated situations, which appear like mountains, where they are 
continually surrounded by the light of heaven : they do not kni^w 
what darkness is, such as prevails at night in the world : and they 
also live in the temperature of spring. When they look around, 
they behold fields and crops of corn ; together with vineyards. 
In their houses, all the objects shine as if set with precious stones. 
To look through the windows is like looking through pure pieces 
of crystal. These are the delightful things presented to their sight : 
but these same things are interiorly delightful, in consequence of 
their correspondence with heavenly divine things ; for the truths 
derived from the Word, which they have loved, correspond to 
crops of corn, vineyards, precious stones, windows, and crystals.(*) 
Those who have innnediately applied the doctrinal truths of the 
church, drawn from the Word, to life, dwell in the inmost heaven, 
where they are in the enjoyment, beyond others, of the delight of 
wisdom. These, in all the objects around them, behold things 
divine : they do, indeed, see the objects, but the divine things 
corresponding to them flow immediately into their minds, filling 
them with a beatitude which runs through all their sensations. 
From this cause, all the objects before their eyes, as it were 
laugh, sport, and are alive. (Respecting these, see above, n. 
270.) Those who have loved the sciences, and who, by means 
of them, have cultivated their rational faculty, whence they have 

Erocured for themselves intelligence, and who, at the same time, 
ave acknowledged the Divine Being, find the pleasure that they 

(*) That a crop of corn, in the Word, signifies a state of reception and of increase of 
truth derived from good, n. 9294, That a standing crop signifies truth in conception, 
n. 9146. That vineyards signify the spiritual church, and the truths of that church, 
nn. 1069, 9189. That precious stones signify the truths of heaven and the churc> 
transparent from good, nn. 114, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873, 9905. That a window signine* 
the intellectual principle, which belongs to the internal sight, nn. 655, 658, 8891. 

274 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 489 

took in sciences, and tlieir rational delight, turned, in the other 
life, into a spiritual delight, which is that of the knowledges of 
good and truth. They dwell in gardens, in which appear iiower- 
beds and lawns divided into beautiful compartments, and sur- 
rounded by rows of trees forming piazzas and walks. The trees 
and flowei*s are A^aried every day. The view of the whole imparts 
delight to their minds in general, which the varieties in partic- 
ular continually renew : and as the objects correspond to things 
divine, and those who behold them are grounded in the science 
of correspondences, they are perpetually replenished with new 
knowledges, by which is perfected their spiritual-rational faculty. 
They experience these delights, because gardens, flowers, lawns, 
and trees, correspond to sciences and knowledges, and to the 
intelligence thence procured.(^) Those who have ascribed every 
thing to the Divine Being, and have regarded nature as being 
respectively dead, merely subserving spiritual ends, and who 
have confirmed themselves in that belief, dwell in heavenly light ; 
and all the objects which appear before their eyes, derive, from 
that light, the property of being transparent. In that trans- 
parency, they behold innumerable variegations of light, which 
their internal sight, in a manner, immediately imbibes : and they 
derive from them perceptions of interior delight. The objects 
which appear in their houses, are as if made of diamonds, in 
which similar variegations of light are displayed. It has been 
told me, that the walls of their houses are as if built with crj^stal, 
consequently, are transparent also, and that there appear in them 
floating forms lepresentative of heavenly things ; which likewise 
are attended with similar variety. The reason of all this is, 
because such transparency con*esponds to an understanding en- 
lightened by the Lord, the shades being removed which result 
from faith of a natural kind and from the love of natural things. 
Such are the things, with an infinity of others, respecting which 
it has been said, by those who had been in heaven, that they 
had seen things that eye never saw ; and, from a perception 
communicated to them of the di\ine things that flow forth from 
the former, that they had heard things that ear never heard. 
Those who have not acted in a clandestine manner, but have 
been willing that all their thoughts should be open, so far as the 
forms of life in civil society would ]3ermit, ap23ear, in heaven, 
because they had thought nothing but what was sincere and just 
from a Divine Source, with countenances that shine with light, 
and in consequence of that light, all their aflfections and thoughts 
appear in their countenances, as in their proper form ; and their 
speech and actions are, in a manner, the effigies of their aftections. 

(') That a garden, a grove, and paradise, signify intelligence, nn. 100, 108, 3220. 
That therefore the ancients celebrated holy worship in gi'oves, nn. 2722, 4r)52. That 
•lowers and flower-beds signify scientific truths and knowledges, n. 9553. That herbs, 
grasses, and grass-plots signify scientific truths, n. 7571. That t ees signify cerceptiona 
und knowledges, nn. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692. 

275 



4:90, 491 OF THE WOELD OF SPIRITS, AND 

These are, in consequence, loved more than others. When thej 
speak, then' face is somewhat obscured ; but when they have 
ended, the same things as they S]3oke appear all together in their 
f'ice, fully presented to view. All the objects, likewise, w^hich 
exist around them, since they correspond to their interiors, have 
such an appearance, that it is clearly perceived by others what 
they represent and signify. Such spirits as have taken delight 
in acting clandestinely, on seeing these ingenuous ones at a 
distance, shun their presence, and appear to themselves to glide 
aw^ay from them, like serpents. Those w^ho have accounted adul- 
teries as horribly wicked, and have lived in the chaste love of 
marriage, are, more than others, in the order and form of heaven, 
and thence possess consummate beauty, and remain perpetually 
in the flower of their age. The delights of their love are ineffable, 
and go on increasing to eternity. For all the delights and joys 
of heaven flow into that love, because it descends from the con- 
junction of the Lord with heaven and the church, and, in general, 
from the conjunction of good and truth ; which conjunction con- 
stitutes heaven itself, both as existing in the grand whole, and 
with every angel in particular. (See above, nn. 366 — 386.) 
Their external delights are such as cannot be described in the 
words of any human language. But the facts that have now 
been related respecting the correspondences of delights, as exist- 
ing with those who are grounded in heavenly love, are, respec- 
tively, but few. 

490. From these statements may be known, that the delights 
of all are turned, after death, into correspondent ones, the love 
itself remaining, nevertheless, to eternity ; such as conjugial love, 
the love of justice, of sincerity, of good, and of truth, the love oi 
sciences and knowledges, the love of intelligence and wisdom, 
and the rest. Delights are the results which flow from the love, 
like streams from their fountain. These, also, are permanent: 
but they are elevated to a superior degree, when, from natural 
ones, they pass into such as are spiritual. 



OF THE FIRST STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 

491. There are three states which man undergoes after deatn, 
before he passes either into heaven or into hell. The first state 
is one in which he is yet in his exteriors : the second state 
is that in w-hich he is in his interiors : and the third state is that 
of his preparation. These states are undergone by him in the 
world of spirits. There are some, however, who do not pass 
through these states, but w^ho, immediately after death, are at 
once either carried up into heaven or cast down into hell. Those 
who are immediately carried up into heaven, are such as have 
276 



OF THE STATE OF ^lAN AFTER DFATH. 492 494 

been regenerated, and so prepared for heaven, in tlie world. 
Those who have been so regenerated and prepared, as to have 
notliing to do but to cast off the mere delilements of nature with 
the body, are carried bv angels into heaven at once : I have seen 
some translated in this manner directly after the hour of death. 
But those who, interiorly, have been ill-intentioned, though exte- 
riorly, in appearance, good, thus, who have filled their malignity 
with deceit, and have employed goodness as a means of decep- 
tion, are immediately cast into hell. I have seen some of this 
character cast into hell immediately after death : one, who was 
a most deceitful person, went with his head downwards and his 
feet upwards ; and others in different ways. There also are 
some, who, immediately after death, are banished into caverns, 
and are thus separated from those who tarry in the w^orld of 
spirits : they are afterwards taken out of those caverns, and are 
again sent into them, alternately : they consist of such persons 
as, under a cover of civility, had dealt maUciously with their 
neighbor. But both these and the former are but few, in respect 
to those who are detained in the world of spirits, and who are 
there prepared, according to Divine Order, for heaven, or foi- 
hell. 

492. With respect to the first state, which is a state in which 
the party is still in his exteriors : it is that into which man comes 
immediately after death. Every man possesses, as to his spirit, 
both exteriors and interiors. The exteriors of his spirit are those, 
by means of which he adapts his body, while in the world, es- 
pecially his face, his speech, and his behavior, for living in 
society with others. But the interiors of his spirit are those 
which are proper to his ^dll, and to his thought thence proceed- 
ing : which seldom are suffered *to appear in his face, his speech, 
and his behavior. For man is accustomed, from his infancy, 
to put on the appearance of friendship, benevolence, and sincerity, 
and to conceal the thoughts of his proper will ; whence he ac- 
quires the habits of moral and civil life in his externals, what- 
ever may be his character in his internals. In consequence of 
this habit, a man scarcely has any acquaintance with his own 
interiors, and does not reflect upon them. 

493. The first state of a man after death is similar to what it 
had been in the world ; because he is then still in his externals. 
His countenance is similar, his speech is similar, and his dispo- 
sition is similar ; with, consequently, his moral and civil life. 
In consequence of this, he is not aware but that he is still in the 
world, if he does not advert to the things which occur to him, 
and to what was told him by the angels when he was first resus- 
citated ; who then informed him that he was now a spirit. (See 
n. 450.) Thus the one life passes into tho. other ; and death ig 
only the actual transit. 

494. Since the spirit of a man who has recently entered the 

277 



494, 495 OF THE WORLD OF SPIEITS, AND 

otlier life after the conclusion of his life in the world, is of this 
description, it follows that he is then recognized by his iriends, 
and by all whom he knew^ when they and he were in the world : 
for other spirits recognize him, not only by his countenance and 
speech, but also by the sphere of his life, on coming near him. 
Whenever, in the other life, any one thinks of another, he also, 
in thought, sets his countenance before him, with many of the 
circumstances of his life ; and when he does this, the person he 
is thinking of appears present before him, as if he had been sent 
for, and called. This phenomenon occurs in the spiritual world, 
because there exists in that world, a communication of thoughts, 
and there are no spaces there, such as those in the natural 
world. (See above, nn. 191 — 199.) It is owing to this, that all, 
on their first entering the other life, are recognized by their 
friends, relations, and all to whom they were in any way known, 
and that they enter into conversation, and afterwards are con- 
nected together in society, according to the intimacy of their 
friendship or acquaintance in the world. I have frequently 
heard those who came from the world rejoice on seeing their 
friends again ; whilst these rejoiced, on their part, that their 
friends had come to them. This is a common occurrence ; that 
one married partner meets the other ; when they congratulate 
each other on the occasion. They also remain together, for a 
longer or shorter time, according to the delight that' had attended 
their dwelling together in the world ; but nevertheless, if the 
bond of their connection had not been love truly conjugial, 
which consists in the conjunction of minds under the influence 
of heavenly love, after remaining together for some time they 
are separated. But if the minds of the two parties had been 
mutually discordant, and interiorly felt aversion for each other, 
they break out into open enmity, and sometimes actually fight : 
notwithstanding which, they are not separated, before they enter 
on the second state, to be treated of in the next Section. 

495. As the life of recently separated spirits is not unlike their 
life in the natural world, and they have brought with them no 
knowledge respecting what their state of life would be after 
death, nor resj^ecting heaven and hell, except what they had 
learned from the literal sense of the Word, and from sermons 
founded on that sense ; the consequence is, that, after wonder- 
ing at finding themselves in a body, and in the enjoyment of all 
the senses that they had in the world, and at beholding similar 
objects, they are seized with a desire to know what is the nature 
of heaven, and what the nature of hell, and where they are sit- 
uated. They are therefore instructed, by friends, respecting the 
state of eternal life : they are also conducted about to various 
places, and to various companies : some are taken into cities, 
and into gardens and paradises, usually, to magnificent scenes; 
because such things are pleasing to their externals, in which they 
278 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 496, 497 

at present are. Tliej are also, bv turns, led to remember tlie 
thoughts which they entertained, in the life of the body, respect- 
ing the state of their soul after death, respecting heaven, and 
respecting hell, till they feel indignant that they should have 
been in such complete ignorance on these subjects, and that such 
ignorance should exist res2:)ecting them in the church. Almost 
all are anxious to know whether they shall go to heaven : and 
most believe that they shall, because, when in the world, they 
had led a moral and civil life ; not reflecting, that both the bad 
and the good lead a similar life in externals, each doing good to 
others in a similar manner, going to church, listening to sermons, 
and uttering prayers ; and not being at all aware, that external 
actions, and the externals of worship, avail nothing, but only the 
internal principles from which the external performances pro- 
ceed. Out of some thousands, scarcely one is to be found who 
knows what internal things are, and that it is in these that man 
possesses heaven and the church ; still less, that external actions 
are such in quality, as are the intentions and thoughts, inclusive 
of the love and faith, from which they proceed : and when they 
are instructed on these subjects, the,y do not comprehend how 
thinking and willing can be of any consequence, but regard as 
every thing, the speaking and doing. Of this description are 
most of those, who at this day enter the other life from the 
Christian world. 

496. They are examined, however, by good spirits, as to their 
quality ; which is done in various ways ; since, in this first state, 
the bad utter truths, and do good deeds, as well as the good. 
This they do from the cause explained' above ; which is, that 
they have equally led a moral life in external form, because they 
had lived under regular governments, and had been subject to 
the laws there established ; and because, by such a course of 
life, they had sought after the reputation of justice and sincerity, 
and to conciliate the favor of others, and had thus been raised to 
honor, and had gained wealth. Evil spu-its, however, are dis- 
tinguished from good ones by this circumstance especially ; that 
they eagerly attend to what is said on external subjects, and but 
little to what is said on internal ones, which are the truths and 
goods of heaven and the church. They hear, indeed, what is 
addressed to them on these subjects, but not with attention and 
joy. They are also distinguished by this ; that they frequently 
tui-n themselves towards certain quarters, and, when left to them- 
selves, walk in the ways which tend in those directions. By 
their turning towards certain quarters, and walking in certain 
ways, is known the nature of the love which leads them. 

497. All the sj^irits who arrive from the world, are, indeed, 
attached, by invisible bonds, to some specific society in heaven, 
or to some sj^ecific society in hell. This attachment, however, 
only affects their mteriors ; and no one's interioi'S are open so 

279 



498, 499 OF THE WOKLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

long as lie is in his exteriors, these covering and hiding them, 
especially with such as are the subjects of niterior evil. After- 
wards, however, when they come into the second state, the inte- 
riors manifestly appear ; for their interiors are then laid open, 
and their exteriors are laid asleep. 

498. This first state of man after death lasts, with some, for 
some days, with others, for some months, and with others, for a 
year; but it seldom continues for more than a year with any 
one : the duration is longer or shorter, in each instance, accord- 
ing to the agreement or disagreement of the party's interiors 
with his exteriors. For, with every one, the exteriors and the 
interiors must act as one, and must correspond to each other. 
It is not allowable for any one, in the spiritual world, to think 
and will in one way, and to speak and act in another. Every 
one must there be the express image of his own affection, or of 
his own love ; consequently, such as he is in his interiors, such 
must he be in his exteriors also : wherefore the exteriors of a 
sj)irit are first stripped ofi", and reduced to such order as to serve 
as a corresponding plane to his interiors. 



OF THE SECOND STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 

499. The second state of man after death is called the state of 
his interiors, because he is then let into the interiors which be- 
long to his mind, or to his will and thought, and his exteriors, 
in which he was in his first state, are laid asleep. Any person 
who pays attention to the life of man, and to his conversation 
and actions, may be aware, that every one possesses exteriors 
and interiors, or exterior and interior thoughts and intentions. 
He may be aware of this from these circumstances : eY&rj one 
who lives in civil society, thinks of others according to what he 
has heard and understood respecting them either from report 
or conversation ; still he does not speak with them according to 
his thoughts, but treats them w4th civility ; though they may be 
bad characters. That this is practised, is especially obvious from 
the case of pretenders and flatterers, who speak and act quiti 
differently from what they think and will ; and from that c? 
hypocrites, who talk about God, about heaven, about the salva- 
tion of souls, about the truths of the church, about the good of 
their country, and about their neighbor, as if they spoke under 
the influence of faith and love ; although, in their heart, they 
believe nothing of what they say, and love none but themselves. 
From these facts it may be evident, that there exist two classes 
of thought, the one exterior and the other interior, and that peo- 
ple s])eak from their exterior thought, while, in their interior, 
their sent'ments are difterent; ana that those two clashes of 
280 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFTER DEATH 500, 501 

' ought are separate from one another ; for special care is taken 
t at the interior should not flow into the exterior, and in any 
^ tj appear. Man is so formed by creation, as that his interior 
th.tught should act as one with his exterior by correspondence; 
ap4 it actually does so in those wdio are grounded in good; for 
thty think nothing but what is good, and they speak accordingly. 
Bm with those who are immersed in evil, the interior thought 
doeiv not form a one with the exterior ; for thev think what is 
eviL and say what is good. With these, there is an invertsion ot 
orde:. ; for good, as existing with them, is without, and evil is 
withia ; on which account, evil rules over good, and subjects the 
latter to itself like a slave, that it may serve it as an instrument 
for ol.'taining its ends, which are such as are regarded by their 
love. Such an end being contained within the good that they 
say ami do, it is evident, that, in them, good is not good, but is 
infected with evil, how much soever, in its external form, it 
may apj^ear as good before those who are not acquainted witt 
the intbi'iors of the doers of it. IS^ot so with those who are 
grounded in good. With these, there is no inversion of order 
but, froDi their interior thought, good flows into their exte- 
rior, and uhus into their speech and their actions. This is the 
order into which man was created : for when men are in this 
order, theiA interiors are in heaven, and in the light which there 
shines ; ana as the light of heaven is the Divine Truth proceed- 
ing from thv; Lord, it is, consequently, the Lord in heaven (see 
nn. 126 — l^v); whence those who dwell in it are led by the 
Lord. Thests truths are advanced, that it may be known that 
every man hao interior thought and exterior thought, and that 
these are distunct from each other. When thought is mentioned, 
the will also v.5 meant, thought being derived from will ; foi 
without will, it aS impossible to think. From these observations 
it is evident, wi»^t is the state of the exteriors, and what the state 
of the interiors, uelonging to man. 

500. When UKcntion is made of the will and the thought, by 
the will is also nreant affection and love, w^ith all the enjoyment 
and pleasure which are connected with them ; because affection 
and love have rei^rence to the will as their subject, since what 
a man wills, he also loves, and feels delightful and pleasurable ; 
and, conversely, wi^at a man loves, and feels delightful and 
pleasurable, he also wills. But by the thought is then meant, 
also, every thino' bv which he confirms his affection or love : for 
thought is nothing but the form of the will, and is provided in 
order that what a man wills may appear in the light. This form 
is preduced by various rational analyses, which derive their ori- 
^m from the spiritual world, and properly belong to man's spirit. 

501. It is to be observed, that man is entirely such in quality 
as he is with respect to his interiors, and not such as he is witli 
respect to his exteriors separately from the former. The reason 

281 



602 — 504 OF t~:e world of spirits, anb 

of this is, because the interiors belong to his spirit, and the life 
of man is the life of his spirit, it being thence that the body lives ; 
on which account, also, such as man is, in cpiality, as to his inte- 
riors, such he remains to eternity. But the exteriors, since they 
aj)pertain also to the body, are separated from him after death, 
and those things derived from them which adhere to the spirit, 
are laid asleep, and only serve as a plane for the interioi-s ; as 
was shown above, when treating of the memory of man that 
remains after death. Hence it is evident, what things are a 
man^s own, or properly belong to him, and what things are not 
his own, or do not properly belong to him. With the evil, all 
such things as belong to their exterior thought, from which they 
speak, and to their exterior will, from which they act, are noi 
their own, or do not properly belong to them ; but only such as 
belong to their interior thought and will. 

502. After the completion of the first state, treated of in the 
preceding Section, which is that of the exteriors, the man, now a 
spirit, is let into the state of his interioi'S, or into the state of his 
interior will and of the thought thence proceeding, in which he 
had been in the world, when, being left to himself, he thought 
freely and without restraint. He lapses into this state uncon- 
sciously ; much as he does in the world, when he draws in the 
thought next to his speech, or that from which speech pro- 
ceeds, towards his interior thought, and abides in the latter. 
When therefore the man, now a spirit, is in this state, he is at 
home in himself, and is in his very life : for to think freely from 
the affection properly belonging to him, is the very life of man, 
and is the man himself 

503. A spirit, in this state, thinks from his actual will, conse- 
quently from his actual affection, or from his actual love ; and 
then his thought forms a one with his will, so completely, that he 
scarcely appears to be thinking, but only willing. It is nearly 
the same when he speaks ; but there is this difference, that he 
sjDeaks with a degree of fear lest the thoughts of his will should 
go forth naked : for this reserve has become a habit of his will, 
acquired by living in civil society in the world. 

50-J:. All men whatsoever are let into this state after death, 
because it is the proper state of their spirit. The former state 
is such as that of the man was, as to his spirit, when he was in 
company; and his state, then, is not properly his own. That 
this state, or the state of his exterioi*s, in which man first exists 
after death, and which was treated of in the preceding Section, 
is not properly his own, may evidently appear from many circum- 
stances : such as this : that spirits not only think, but also speak, 
from their own affection ; for it is from this that their speech 
proceeds. (As may be evident from what was stated and shown 
in the Section on the Speech of the Angels, nn. 234 — 245.) The 
man thought in a similar manner when in the world, when ha 
282 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 505, 606 

thought within himself; for he did not then think from the speech 
of his body, but only saw the things which the body uttered ; and 
many more, within a minute of time, than he could afterwards 
deliver by speech in half an hour. That the state in which man 
is in his exteriors is not properly his own, or that of his spirit, is 
also evident from this circumstance ; that when, during his life 
ill the world, he is in company, he speaks according to the laws of 
moral and civil life, and his interior thought governs his exterior, 
as one person governs another, to prevent it from transgressing 
tlie limits of decorum and propriety. It is also evident from this 
circumstance ; that when a man thinks within himself, he also 
considers how he must speak and act so as to please, and to 
obtain friendship, good-will, and favor ; and this he does by modes 
foreign to what is natm*al to him ; and, consequently, he speaks 
differentl}^ from what he would do, if he spoke from the imme- 
diate dictates of his own will. From these facts it is evident, 
that the state of his interiors into which the spirit is let, is 
the state properly belonging to him ; and thus, also, is the state 
which properly belonged to him, while he lived as a man in the 
world. 

505. When a spirit is in the state of his interiors, it manifestly 
appeal's of what quality the man was, in himself, when in the 
world ; for he then acts from his ^roprium^ or from what is 
properly his own, whether bad or good. He who, when he lived 
in the world, was interiorly grounded in good, then acts ration- 
ally and wisely, in fact, more wisely than he did in the world, 
because he is released from his connection with the body, and 
thus, from his connection with earthly things, which obscured, 
and, in a manner, cast a cloud over the wisdom that he inte- 
riorly possessed. But he who, when he lived in the world, was 
grounded in evil, then acts foolishly and insanely, in fact, more 
insanely than he did in the world, because he is now in a state 
of freedom, and under no restraint. For when he lived in the 
world he was sane in externals, and, by their means, assumed the 
feigned character of a rational man ; Avherefore, w^hen his exter- 
nals ard stripped off from him, his insane phantasies are exposed. 
A bad man, who, in externals, puts on the semblance of a good 
man, may be compared to a vase exteriorly bright and polished, 
and covered with a lid, within which are concealed filthy^ matters 
of every kind ; according to the Lord's declaration : " Ye are like 
unto whited sejpulchres^ which indeed ajppear heautiful outivard^ 
out are within full of dead men's hones ^ and of all uncleaniiess.^"* 
— (Matt, xxiii. 27.) 

506. All who, in the world, have lived in a state of good, and 
have acted under the influence of conscience, — who are those 
who have acknowledged the Divine Being and have loved divine 
truths, and especially those who have applied them to life, — ■ 
appear to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors, 

283 



506 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

like persons who, after having been asleep, become broad awake : 
and like persons who pass out of the shade into the light. They 
also think from the light of heaven, and thus from interior 
wisdom; and they act from a principle of good, and thus from 
interior affection. Heaven, likewise, flows into their thoughts 
and affections with a sense of interior beatitude and delight, 
such as, previously, they had no idea of: for they now have 
communication with the angels of heaven. They now, also, 
aclsR'^.wledge the Lord, and worship Him from, their very life ; 
for they are in their own pro23er life, when they are in the state 
of their interiors ; as stated just above (n. 505). They likewise 
acknowledge and worship Him from freedom, for fi^eedom is 
attendant on interior affection. They thus, also, recede from the 
state of external sanctity, and come into that of internal sanctity, 
in which real worship truly consists. Such is the state of those, 
who have led a Christian life according to the commandm-ents 
delivered in the Word. But the state of those, who, in the world, 
have lived in evil, and who have had no conscience, and have 
thence denied the Divine Being, is the diametrical conti'ary. 
For all who live in evil, in their own interior selves deny the 
Divine Being, how much soever they may imagine, when in 
their externals, that they do not deny but acknowledge Him : 
for to acknowledge the Divine Being, and to live in evil, are 
incompatible opposites. In the other life, those who are of such 
a character, when they come into the state of their interiors, 
appear, to those who hear their conversation and observe their 
actions, like persons infatuated : for, under the influence of their 
evil lusts, they break out into nefarious excesses, such as contempt 
of others, mockery, railing, hatred, revenge, and the contriving 
of deceitful devices, which some of them plot with such cunning 
and malice, that it can scarcely be believed that any thing like it 
can interiorly exist in any man. For in the state in which they 
then are, they are free to act according to the thoughts of their 
will, being separated from their exteriors, which, in the world, 
coerced and restrained them. In one word, they are destitute of 
rationality ; because the rational faculty which they exercised in 
the Avorld, had not had its seat in their interiors, but only in their 
exteriors ; and yet they then appear to themselves to be wise 
beyond all others. Being such in quality, therefore, w^hen they 
are in this second state, they are occasionally remitted, for a 
short time, into the state of their exteriors, with a remembrance 
of what their actions had been while they were in the state of 
their interiors. Some are then ashamed of themselves, and con- 
fess that they had been insane : some are not ashamed : and 
some are angry that they are not allow^ed to remain continually 
in the state of their exteriors. But to these it is showai, what 
sort of persons they would be if they could remain continually 
in this state ; for they would then endeavor to perform similar 
284 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 507, 508 

nefarioiis deeds in a clandestine manner, and, by appearances oi 
goodness, of sincerity, and of justice, would seduce the simple in 
heart and laith, and would also destroy themselves totally ; for 
the conflagration which raged in their interiors would at length 
seize their exteriors also, and would consume the whole of tlieir 
life. 

507. When spirits are in this second state, they openly and 
completely show^ what sort of persons they had inwardly beeu 
in the world, and they actually make public what they then had 
done and said in secret : for, external considerations no longer 
restraining them, they openly say similar things, and also en- 
deavor to perform similar actions, without any fear, as in the 
world, for their reputation. They also are then led into many 
states belonging to then* former evils ; that it may appear to 
angels and good spirits what sort of beings they are. Thus, 
things hidden are laid open, and things secret are uncovered ; 
according to the words of the Lord : ^^ There is nothing covered^ 
that shall not he revealed ; neither hid^ that shall not he haown. 
Therefore^ whatsoever ye have sjpolten in darkness^ shall he heard 
in the light / and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets^ 
shall he proclaimed %ipon the house-topsP — (Luke xii. 2, 3.) And 
again : ^'/ say unto you^ That every idle word that men shall 
speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judg- 
ment:'— QsidXt. xii. 36.) 

508. What sort of beings the wicked are, in this state, cannot 
be described in a few words, because every one is then insane 
according to his own lusts, and these are various ; wherefore I 
will only adduce some specific instances, from which a judgment 
may be formed as to the rest. Those who have supremely loved 
themselves, and, in the ofiices and occupations they have dis- 
charged, have only regarded their own honor, having performed 
uses, not for the sake of the uses themselves, and because they 
took delight in them, but with a view to their own reputation, 
and that they, for doing them, might be more highly esteemed 
than others, and thus might receive delight from the fame of 
their honor; these, when in this second state, are more stupid 
than others ; for in proportion as any one loves himself, he is 
removed from heaven ; and in proportion as he is removed from 
heaven, he is also removed from wisdom. But those who have 
been immersed in self-love, and have been cunning at the same 
time, and had raised themselves to honors by artful practices, 
connect themselves in society with the worst of all, and learn 
magical arts, which are abuses of Divine Order, by which they 
injure and infest all who do not pay them honor. They contrive 
snares, they cherish hatred, they burn with revenge, and they lust 
to exercise cruelty upon all who do not submit to them. They 
rush into the perpetration of all these crimes, so far as the malig- 
nant crew favors their endeavors ; and at last they meditate how 

285 



50S OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

thej can climb up to heaven, and destroy it, or be worshipped 
there as gods. To such excesses is their madness carried. Those 
of this class who had been of the Roman Cathohc religion, are 
more insane than the rest : for thej are possessed with the notion, 
that heaven and hell are subject to their power, and that thej are 
able to remit people's sins at pleasure. They arrogate to them- 
selves everj^ divine attribute, and call themselves Christ. The 
persuasion which possesses them that all this is true, is so strong, 
that, where the influx of it enters, it disturbs people's minds, and 
induces darkness that even causes pain. These spirits are much 
alike, in both states, but in the second they are destitute of 
rationality. (Respecting their insanities, and their lot after they 
have passed through this state, some particulars are related in 
the work on ^h.'^ Last Judgment and the Destruction of Bahylon) 
Those who have ascribed the creation to nature, and, as the 
result, have denied the Divine Being in their heart, though not 
with their lips, and, consequently, all things belonging to heaven 
and the church, connect themselves, in this state, in society with 
those who are like themselves, and call any one God who excels 
the others in cunning, actually worshipping him with divine 
honors. I have seen a number of such spirits collected in a 
meeting, worshipping a magician, debating about nature, and 
conducting themselves so insanely, that they might be taken for 
beasts under the human form : yet there were some among them 
who, in the world, had occupied stations of high rank ; and some 
who had possessed the reputation of being learned and wise men. 
And so with other classes. From these few examples a judgment 
may be formed, as to what sort of persons those are, in whom the 
interiors, which belong to the mind, are shut in the direction of 
heaven, as they are in all who have not received any influx from 
heaven through the acknowledgment of the Divine Being, and 
through the life of faith. Every one may judge from himself 
what sort of person he would be, if of this character, were he at 
liberty to act without any fear of the law or of the loss of his life, 
and in freedom from external bonds, such as fear lest he should 
suffer in his reputation, and lest he should be deprived of honor, 
gain, and the pleasures derived from them. J^evertheless, the 
insanity of such spirits is restrained by the Lord, to prevent it 
from rushing beyond the limits of use ; for use is performed even 
by every one of this description. In them, good spirits see what 
evil is, and what is its nature, and what sort of a being man 
would be were he not led by the Lord. It is also a use, that 
similar evil spirits should by them be gathered together, and 
separated from the good ; and also, that the truths and goods 
which the evil have made a show of, and have falsely assumed 
in externals, should be taken from them, and that they should be 
led into the evils of their own life, and into the falsities of their 
evil, and so be prepared for hell. For no one goes to hell, until 
286 



OF TOE STATE OF MA^ AFTER DEATH. 5()8, 509 

he is both immersed in his own evil and in the falsities proper to 
it ; since it is not allowable, there, for any one to have a divided 
mind, or to think and speak one thing and to will another. 
Every evil spirit mnst there think what is false derived from 
evil, and mnst speak from snch falsity, doing both from his will, 
conseqnently, from his own proper love, and its delight and 
pleasure ; as he did in the world, when he thought in his spirit ; 
that is, as he thought within himself, when he thought from his 
interior aifection. The reason of this is, because the will is the 
man himself, and not the thought, except in proportion as it is 
derived from the will ; and the will is man's absolute nature or 
disposition, so that to be let into his will is to be let into his own 
nature or disposition, and into his own life also, for man acquires 
a nature according to his life : and man remains, after death, of 
such a nature as he has procured for himself by his life in the 
world ; which, with the evil, can then no longer be amended and 
changed by means of the thought or understanding of truth. 

509. As evil spirits, when they are in this second state, rush 
mto crimes of every kind^ it hapj)ens that they are frequently 
and severely punished. In the world of spirits, there are pun- 
ishments of many kinds : nor is any respect there had to persons, 
whether the individual to be punished had been in the world a 
king or a servant. All evil carries w^ith it punishment : they are 
combined together; in consequence of which, whoever is in the 
commission of evil, is also immersed in the punishment of evil, 
Nevertheless, no one there suffers punishment for crimes which 
he had committed in the world, but only for the crimes which he 
commits there. It amounts, however, to the same thing, whether 
it be said that the wicked are punished for their crimes committed 
in the world, or for the crimes which they commit in the other 
life ; since every one, after death, returns into his own life, and 
thus into similar evils ; because man is then such in quality sts 
he had been in the life of his body. (See above, nn. 470 — 4:84.) 
The reason that they are punished is, because the fear of punish- 
ment is, in this state, the only means by which their evils can be 
subdued : neither exhortation, instruction, nor yet fear of the law 
and for their reputation, are any longer of any avail ; because 
the party now acts from his nature, which cannot be coerced, or 
broken, except by punishments. On the other hand, good spirits 
are never punished, notwithstanding their having committed evils 
in the world : for their evils do not return ; and it has also been 
given me to know, that their evils were of a different kind or 
nature from those of the wicked : because they did not, in com- 
mitting them, act of set purpose in opposition to truth, nor from 
a bad heart, any further than what adhered to them from the 
hereditary nature derived from their parents, into which they 
had been carried by the influence of blind pleasure, when they 
were in their externals separate from their internals. 

287 



510, 511 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

510. Every one goes to his own society, in wliich his spirit 
was while he was in the world : for every man, as to his spirit, 
is conjoined to some society, either of hell or of heaven ; a had 
man being conjoined to a society of hell, and a good man to a 
society of heaven. (That every one returns, after death, to his 
own society, may be seen above, n. 438.) To this society the 
spirit is led by successive steps, till, at last, he enters into it. 
An evil spirit, when he is brought into the state of his interiors, 
is turned by degrees towards his own society, and at length he 
looks directly to it, before this state is completed ; and when it 
is, the evil spu'it casts himself, of his own accord, into the hell, 
where such as are like himself have their abode. When actu- 
ally casting himself down, he appears at a distance like a person 
falling perpendicularly, with his head downwards and his feet 
upw^ards : the reason of which appearance is, because he is in 
inverted order, having loved infernal things and rejected heavenly 
ones. Some of the evil, while in this second state, occasionally 
enter their hells, and come out again; but they do not, at such 
times, appear to fall headlong, as they do when fully divested of 
every thing tending to keep them out. The very society in which 
they were as to their spirit while in the world, is also shown to 
them, while they are in the state of their exteriors, that they may 
know that they were in hell even while in the life of the body ; 
although they were not then in a similar state with those who 
are in hell itself, but in a similar state with those who are in the 
world of spirits ; the state of whom, respectively to that of those 
who are in hell, will be explained in the following Sections. 

511. The separation of evil spirits from good spirits is effected 
in this second state. For in the first state they remain together ; 
because, while a spirit is in his externals, he behaves much as he 
did in the world, in which the bad have intercourse with the 
good, and the good with the bad. 'Not so when the spirit is 
brought into his interiors, and is left to his own nature or will. 
The separation of the good from the evil is effected in various 
ways. They are usually carried round to those societies, with 
which they had had communication by good thoughts and affec- 
tions in their first state, and, consequently, to such as they had 
induced to believe, by external appearances, that they were not 
evil. For the most part, they are carried round in an extensive 
circle, and it is everywhere shown to the good spirits of what 
quality they are in themselves. On seeing this, the good spirits 
turn themselves away ; and as they do so, the evil spirits also, 
who are being carried round, have their faces turned away from 
them, and directed towards the quarter where the infernal society 
is located, into which they are about to enter. Not to mention 
other modes of effecting the separation, of which there are many. 

288 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 513 



OF THE THIRD STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH: 

Wliich is the State of Instintction provided for tliose ivho go to 

Heaven. 

512. The third state of man, or of his spirit, after death, is the 
state of instruction. This state is provided for those who go to 
heaven and become angels ; but is not experienced by those who 
go to liell, because these cannot be instructed. The second state 
of the Latter, is, therefore, the third also ; which ends in their 
being turned completely towards their own love, and, of course, 
towards the society in hell whose love is similar. When this is 
effected, they will and think from that love ; and as that love is 
an infernal one, they then will nothing but what is evil, and think 
nothing but what is false, these being delightful to them, because 
they are the objects of their love : and they reject, in consequence, 
every thing good and true, which, because such things were ser- 
viceable to their love as means for obtaining its ends, they had 
previously adojDted. But the good are led on from the second 
state to a third, which is that of their preparation for heaven by 
means of instruction : for no one can be prepared for heaven, 
except by the knowledges of good and truth, consequently, not 
without instruction ; since no one can know what spiritual good 
and truth are, nor what evil and falsity, which are their opposites, 
are, except by instruction. What civil and moral good and truth 
are, wliLch are called justice and sincerity, may be known in the 
world ; for, in the world, there are civil laws, which teach what 
justice isj and there are social intercourses, in which man learns 
to live according to moral laws, all which have reference to 
sincerity and uprightness : but spiritual good and truth are not 
learned from the world, but from heaven. What they are, may 
indeed be known from the Word, and from the doctrines of the 
church as drawn from the AYord ; but still they cannot enter into 
the life, unless the man, as to the interiors which belong to his 
mind, be in heaven. Man is in heaven, when he acknowledges 
the Divine Being, and at the same time acts with justice and 
sincerity, on the ground that he ought to do so because it is 
commanded in the Word ; for he then practises justice and 
sincerity out of regard to the Divine Being, and not with regard 
to himself and the world as ends. But no one can act thus, 
without having first been instructed in such truths as these : 
That there is a God ; that there are a heaven and a hell ; that 
there is a life after death ; that God is to be loved by man above 
all things, and his neighbor as himself; and that the things re- 
vealed in the Word are to be believed, because the Word is 
divine. AYithout the knowledge and acknowledgment of these 
truths, man cannot think spiritually: and without thought ro- 
19 289 



I 



512, 513 OF IHE WOKLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

Gpecting them, lie dc-es not will them: for what a man is not 
acquainted with, he cannot think of, and what he does not think 
of, he cannot will. When, therefore, these truths are objects of 
a man's will, heaven, by influx, enters into him ; that is, the 
Lord, through heaven, flows into his life ; for He flows into his 
will, and through this into his thought, and through both into 
his life ; for all the life of man is from his will and thought. 
From these observations it is evident, that spiritual good and 
truth are not learned from the world, but from heaven : and that 
none can be prepared for heaven except by means of instruction. 
In proportion, also, as the Lord enters by influx into any one's 
life. He instructs him ; for He so far enkindles his wdll with the 
love of knowing truths, and so enlightens his thought as to 
enable him to know them; and in proportion as these effects 
are produced, the man's interiors are opened, and heaven is 
implanted in them ; and, still further, a divine and heavenly 
rinciple flows into the sincere actions that belong to his moral 
ife, and into the just actions that belong to his civil life, and 
imparts to them a spiritual nature : since he then does them 
from a Divine Source, because out of regard to the Divine 
Being. The sincere and just actions, being those of the moral 
and civil life, which a man does from such an origin, are them- 
selves effects of spiritual life ; and the effect derives all that is in 
It from its efficient cause ; since such as the cause is, such is the 
effect also. 

513. The instructions are administered by the angels of many 
societies, especially those that are stationed in the northern and 
southern quarters, those angelic societies being eminently ground- 
ed in intelligence and wisdom derived from the knowledges of 
good and truth. The places of instruction are situated towards 
the north, and are of various descriptions, being arranged and 
distinguished according to the genera and species of heavenly 
goods, in order that every individual may have instruction im- 
parted to him according to his own genius and his faculty of 
reception. These places extend in all directions there, to a con- 
siderable distance ; and the good spirits who are to be instructed, 
are guided to them by the Lord, after the completion of their 
second state in the world of spirits. All, however, do not go to 
them : for such as have received instruction in the world, were 
also there prepared for heaven, and are taken to heaven by 
another roj.te. Some of these go to heaven, immediately after 
death ; some, after a short stay in the company of good spirits, 
among whom the grosser things connected with their thoughts 
and ailections, which they had derived from the possession of 
honor and riches in the world, are removed, and their purifica- 
tion is thereby effected : some first undergo a divesting process, 
for the rctmoval of such things adhering to them as are unconge- 
nial ^A'ith heaven. This process is accomplished in pla<jG8 imaer 
290 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 613, 514 

the soles of the feet, wliicli are called tlie lower earth : where 
some undergo severe sufferings. These are such as have con- 
firmed themselves in falsities, and yet have lived a good life : for 
falsities, when confirmed, inhere tenaciously ; and yet, till they 
are dispersed, truths cannot be seen, and, consequently, cannot 
be received."^ 

514. All who are received into the places of ''instruction dwell 
in distinct classes ; for, individually, they are all connected, by 
invisible bonds, with the societies of heaven to- which they will 
go : consequently, as the heavenly societies are arranged accord- 
ing to the form of heaven (see above, nn. 200 — 212), so, also, are 
the places where the instructions are administered : on which 
account, when those places are viewed from heaven, they appear 
like a heaven on a smaller scale. They extend, lengthwise, from 
east to west, and, breadthwise, from south to north : but the 
breadth is less, in appearance, than the length. The general 
arrangement of them is this. In front are those who died when . 
infants or little children, and had been educated to the period of 
earl}^ youth in heaven ; who, after having passed their infantile 
state under their governesses, are brought here by the Lord, and 
receive instruction. Behind these are the places where those are 
instructed who died at an adult age, and who had been ground- 
ed in an affection for truth derived from good in the world. Be- 

* The divesting processes, usually termed, in other translations of the Author's 
works, vastations, and the modes in which they are performed, are treated of in the 
Arcana Ccdestia, in various passages, references to which may be seen beloAv.(*) — iVi 

(*) That divesting processes are accomplished in tlie other life ; that is, that those 
who go thither from the world undergo such processes, nn. 698, 7122, 7474, 9793. 
That the well-disposed undergo a divesting process as to falsities, and the ill-disposed 
as to trutlis, nn. 7474, 7541, 7542. That, witli the Avell-disposed, such processes are 
also undergone for the putting off of the earthly and worldly defilements, which they 
had contracted whilst they lived in the world, nn. 7186, 9763. And that evils and fal- 
sities may be removed, and thus place may be given for the influx of goods and truths 
out of heaven from the Lord, together with the faculty of receiving them, nn. 7122, 
9331. That they cannot be elevated into heaven until such things are removed, because 
they oppose and do not agree with heavenly things, nn. 6928", 7122, 7186, 7541, 7542, 
9763. That thus, likewise, those are prepared, wlio are to be elevated into heaven, nn. 
4728, 7090. That it is dangerous for any to be admitted into heaven, before they are 
prepared, nn. 537, 538. Of the state of illustration, and of joy, experienced by those 
who come out of the divesting process, and are elevated into heaven ; and of their 
reception there, nn. 2699,, 2701, 2704. That the region where these processes are 
undergone is called the lower earth, nn. 4728, 7090. That that region is under the soles 
of the feet, surrounded by the hells; its quality is described, nn. 4940 — 4951,7090. 
From experience, n. 699. 'What the hells are, wliich infest and induce the divesting 
process more than the rest, nn. 7317, 7502, 7545. That those who have infested the 
well-disposed, and brought them under the divesting processes, are afterwards afraid 
of them, shun them, and hold them in aversion, n. 7768. That those infestations and 
divesting processes are accomplished in different manners, according to the adherence 
of evils and falsities ; and that they continue according to their quality and quantity, 
nn. 1106 — 1113. That some are willing to undergo the divesting process, n. 1107. That 
some have it induced on them by fears, n. 4942. Some, by infestations from their own 
evils which they have done in the world, and from their own falsities which they have 
thought in the world, whence arises anxieties and pangs of conscience, n. 1106. Some, 
by spiritual captivity; which is ignorance and interception of truth conjoined with the 
desire of knowing Vuths, nn. 1109, 2694. Some, by sleep ; some, by a middle state 
between wakefulness and sleep, n. 1108. That those who have placed merit in works, 
appear to tnemselves to cut wood, n. 1110. Others in other ways, with much variety, 
a. 699. 

291 



j15 517 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

hind these, again, are such as had professed the Mahomedan 
religion, and who, while in the world, had led a moral life, and 
had acknowledged one Divine Being, and the Lord, as the Great 
Prophet. These, when they withdraw from Mahomed, on find- 
ing that he can render them no help, approach to the Lord, 
worship Him, and acknowledge His Divinity ; and are then in- 
structed in the Christian religion. Behind these, more to the 
north, are the places of instruction for the various classes of 
Gentiles, who, when in the world, had led a good life, in con- 
formity with their religion, and who had thus acquired a species 
of conscience, and had practised justice and uprightness, not so 
much out of obedience to the laws of their country, as to the 
laws of their religion, in the belief that these ought to be sacredly 
observed, and in no way to be violated by their actions. All 
these, on being instructed, are easily brought to acknowledge 
the Lord, because they have it impressed upon their heart, that 
God is not invisible, but is visible under a Human Form. 
These surpass the others in number. The best of them are from 
Africa. 

515. But all are not instructed in the same manner, nor by 
angels of similar heavenly societies. Those who had been edu- 
cated from their infancy in heaven, are instructed by angels oi 
the interior heavens, because they had not imbibed falsities from 
false principles of religion, nor defiled their spiritual life by gross 
adhesions derived fi'om a regard to honore and riches in the 
world. Those who had died at an adult period of life, are, for 
the most part, instructed by angels of the ultimate heaven, these 
angels being more adapted to their state than the angels of the 
interior heavens, since the latter are grounded in interior wisdom, 
which such spirits have not, as yet, a capacity for receiving 
But the Mahomedans are instructed by angels who had originally 
been of that religion, but had been converted to Christianity. 
The various classes of Gentiles, also, are instructed by angels 
who had been such as themselves. 

516. All instruction is there administered from doctrine drawn 
from the Word, and not from the Word independently of doc- 
trine. Christians are instructed from the doctrine received in 
heaven, which agrees in every particular with the internal sense 
of the Word. The others, or the Mahomedans and the Gentiles, 
are instructed from doctrines adapted to their comprehension, 
which only diff'er from the doctrine of heaven in the circumstance, 
that, in them, the spiritual life is taught through the medium of 
a moral life, in hai-mony with the good tenets of their religion, 
from which they had formed their life in the world. 

517. The modes of imparting instruction in the heavens dififei 
fi'om those practised on earth in this respect, that the knowl- 
edges are not impressed on the memory, but on the life ; for the 
memorv of the spirits resides in their life, since they receive and 

292 



OF TIES STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 517, 51 S 



imbibe every thing that agrees Avith their life, but do not receive, 
much less imbibe, any thing that does not ; the reason of which 
is, because spirits are affections, and exist hi a human form such 
as that of their affections. Such being their nature, tlie affection 
for truth, with a view to the uses of life, is ins]3ired into them 
cojitinually. For the Lord provides that every one should love 
the uses which are suited to his genius : this love is also rendered 
more intense by the hope of becoming an angel : and since all 
the uses regarded in heaven have reference to the common use, 
which is the good of the Lord's kingdom, which in that world is 
their country ; and since all particular and private uses are 
excellent just in proportion as they more nearly and fiiUy have 
respect to that common use ; it follows, that all the particular 
and private uses, which are innumerable, are good and heavenly. 
On this account, the affection of truth is conjoined in every one 
with the affection for use, so completely, as to act as one : by 
means of which, truth is implanted in use, so that the truths 
which they learn are truths of use. It is thus that angelic spirits 
are mstructed, and are prepared for heaven. The affection for 
truth suitable to the use which they are to perform, is insinuated 
into them by various means, most of which are unknown in the 
world ; especially by representatives of uses, which are produced 
in the spiritual world in a thousand ways, accompanied with 
such delightful and j^leasant sensations, as to penetrate the spirit, 
from his interiors, which belong to his mind, to his exteriors, 
which belong to his body, and thus to affect the whole of him. 
A spirit is thus rendered, in a manner, his own use : in conse- 
quence of which, when he enters his own society, into which he 
is initiated by this course of instruction, he is in the enjoyment 
of his life when he is in 'the performance of his use.(^) From 
these observations it may be evident, that knowledges, which 
are external truths, do not cause any one to go to heaven, but 
the life, which is the life of uses, implanted by means of those 
knowledges. 

518. There were some spirits, who, from the thoughts they had 
entertained in the w^orld, had persuaded themselves, that they 
should go to heaven, and be admitted in preference to others, 
because they had been men of learning, and had possessed a 
large stock of knowledge derived from the Word, and from the 
doctrines of theii' churches ; on which ground they fancied that 
they were wise, and were meant by those of whom it is said, 

(') That every good has its delight from uses, and according to uses, and likewise 
its quality ; whence such as the use is, such is the good, nn. 3049, 4984, 7038. That the 
angelic life consists in the goods of love and charity, thus in performing uses, n. 454, 
That nothing appertaining to man is regarded by the Lord, and thence bv the angels, 
out ends, which are uses, im. 131T, 1645, 5949. That the kingdom of the Lord is a 
kingdom of uses, nn. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038. That to serve the Lord is to per- 
form uses, n, 7038. That man has a quality accordinz to the quality of the uses apper- 
taining to him, nn. 1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 10,234. 



518, 519 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. AND 

that " they shall shine like the 'brightness of the firmament^ and 
as the stars. "^^ — (Dan. xii. 3.) They were examined, to ascertam 
whether their knowledges were seated in their memory, or in 
their life. Those who had been grounded in a genuine affection 
for truth, — or for truth regarded with a view to uses unconnected 
with corporeal and worldly considerations, which are, intrinsi- 
cally, spiritual uses, — were, after they had been instructed, re- 
ceived into heaven. It was then given them to know, what it is 
that shines in heaven, and that, in fact, it is the Divine Truth, 
which is the light of heaven, embodied in use, which is the plane 
that receives the rays of that light, and turns them into splendors 
of various colors. But as for those in whom the knowledges 
which they possessed only resided in the memory, and who had 
only acquired by them a faculty of reasoning about truths, and 
of confirming the notions that they had assumed as first princi- 
ples, and which, though false, after having been confirmed, were 
seen by them as truths ; these persons, not having been in any 
degree of the light of heaven, entertain the persuasion, grounded 
in the self-conceit which for the most part adheres to such sort 
of intelligence, that they were more learned than others, and 
should therefore go to heaven, where they should be waited 
upon by angels as their servants. On this account, in order that 
they might be withdrawn from their infatuated persuasion, they 
were taken up to the first or ultimate heaven, to be introduced 
into some angelic society. But when they were only in the en- 
trance, on receiving the influx of the light of heaven, their eyes 
began to be darkened, and their understanding to be confused, 
and they began to pant for breath like persons at the point of 
death : and when they perceived the heat of heaven, which is 
heavenly love, they began to feel inward torture. They were, 
consequently, cast down ; after which they were instructed, that 
knowledges are not what constitute an angel, but the life acquired 
by means of them ; since knowledges, regarded in themselves, 
are extraneous to heaven ; but the life acquired by them is 
within it. 

519. After the spirits, by means of instructions imparted in 
the places above mentioned, have been prepared for heaven, — 
which is effected in a short time, because they are in the enjoy- 
ment of spiritual ideas, which embrace many things at once, — 
they are clothed with angelic garments, which for the most part 
are white, as if made of fine linen. They are then guided to a 
way which leads ujDwards to heaven, and are put under the care 
of the angels who guard it ; after which they are taken in charge 
by other angels, and are introduced into various societies, where 
they meet with many delightful things : and, finally, every one 
is guided to his own society by the Lord. This also is done by 
leading them through various ways, and occasionally through 
some that wind about greatlv. No angel is acquainted with the 
294 



OF THE STATE OF MAN API 3R DEATH. 520, 521 

ways throiigli which they a^e led, these being known only to the 
Lord. When they arriye in their own oor'iety, their interiors ai'e 
opened; and as these are constituted like those of the angels 
wlio liv^e in that society, they are im.aediatel}^ recognized, and 
are receiyed with joy. 

520. To these statements I will add a remarkable particular 
respecting the ways which lead from those places to heayen, and 
by which the noyitiate angels are introduced. They are eight in 
number, two leading from each ]3lace of instruction, one of which 
ascends in an easterly direction, and the other towards the west. 
Those who go to the Lord's celestial kingdom, are introduced by 
the eastern way ; but those who go to His spiritual kingdom, by 
the western. The four ways which lead to the Lord's celestial 
kingdom, appear as if ornamented with oliye-trees and fruit-trees 
of yarious kinds ; but those which lead to His spiritual kingdom, 
appear as if ornamented with yines and laurels. This originates 
in correspondence ; because yines and laurels correspond to the 
affection for truth, and its uses ; whilst oliye-trees and fruit cor- 
respond to the affection for good, and its uses. 



THAT NO ONE ATTAINS HEAVEN BY AN ACT OF IMMEDIATE 

MERCY. 

521. Those who haye no accurate mformation respecting hea\ 
en and the way thither, and respecting the life of heayen as it 
exists with man, are of opinion, that reception in heaven depends 
solely upon an act of mercy, which is performed for those who 
have faith, and for whom the Lord makes intercession ; or, that 
it is nothing but admission out of grace or favor ; consecjuently, 
that all men, without exception, might be saved if it were the 
Lord's pleasure ; and some imagine, that all the inhabitants of 
hell might be saved also. But such persons are entirely unac- 
quainted with the nature of man, being not aware that, in quality, 
he is wholly such as his life is, and that his life is such as his love 
is, not only as to his interiors, which belong to his will and hia 
understanding, but as to his exteriors also, which belong to his 
body; and that his corporeal frame is only the external form in 
which his interiors produce themselves in effect; the result of 
which is, that the whole man is his own love. (See above, n. 
363.) They likewise are not aware, that the body does not live 
of itself, but from its spirit, and that the spirit of a man is actu- 
ally his affection, and his spiritual body is nothing else than the 
affection of the man in a human form, such as he also appears in 
after death/ (See above, nn, 453 — 460.) So long as these trutba 

29r» 



522, 523 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

are unknown, a man may be induced to believe, that salvation is 
nothing but an act of the Divine Good-pleasure, which is called 
mercy, and grace. 

522. But it shall first be declared what the Divine Mercy is. 
Divine Mercy is the pure mercy of the Lord, displayed towards 
all the human race for their salvation. It is also continually 
present with every man, and never recedes from any one ; so 
that every one who possibly can be saved, is saved. But no one 
can possibly be saved, except by divine means ; which are those 
revealed by the Lord in the Word. Divine means are what are 
called divine truths. These teach how man must live, in order 
that he may be saved. The Lord, by them as means, leads man 
to heaven ; and, by them as means, implants in him the life of 
heaven. This the Lord does for all. But Lie cannot implant 
the life of heaven in any one, unless he abstain from evil ; for 
evil is an obstacle in the way. In proportion, therefore, as man 
abstains from evil, the Lord leads him, by divine means, out of 
pure mercy ; and this He does from his infancy to the end of his 
life in the world, and afterwards to eternity. This is the Divine 
Mercy which is meant. From these observations it is evident, 
that the Lord's mercy is pure mercy, but not immediate mercy, 
or mercy unconnected with means ; by which is meant, a mercy 
that saves all of mere good-pleasure, let them have lived how 
they may. 

523. The Lord never does any thing contrary to order, because 
He is Order Itself. The Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord 
is what constitutes order; and divine truths are the laws of order, 
according to which it is that the Lord leads man. To save man, 
then, by immediate merc}^, or mercy without means, is contrary 
to Divine Order ; and what is contrary to Divine Order, is con- 
trary to the Divine Being Himself. Divine Order is heaven as 
existing with man : this man has perverted in himself by a life 
contrary to the laws of order, which are divine truths : he is 
brought back into that order by the Lord, out of pure mercy, by 
means of the laws of order : and in proportion to the degree of 
his restoration, he receives heaven within him ; and he who has 
heaven within him, goes to heaven after death. Henee it is 
again evident, that the divine mercy of the Lord is pure mercy, 
but not immediate mercy .(^) 

(') That the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is the source of order, and that 
the Divine Good is the essential of orclcr, nn. 1728, 2258, 8700, 8988. That hence the 
Lord is order, nn. 1919, 2011, 5110, -,7o:3, 10,336, 10,619. That divine truths are tli© 
laws of order, nn. 2447, 7995. That the universal heaven is arranged hy the Lord 
according to His divine order, nn. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10,125, 10,151, KV57. That 




tlic being into wliom are collated all things of divine order, and that from creation he 
ie divine' order in form, because he is its recipient, nn.4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 
58^8, 6013, 6057, 0605, 6626, 9706, 10,156, 10,472. That man is not born into what la 

296 



OF THE STATE OF MAX AFTEK DEATH. 52tt 526 

624:. If man could be saved by immediate mercy, all would 
he saved, including even the inhabitants of hell : nay, tliere 
would not be any such place as hell. For the Lord is Mercy 
Itself, Love Itself, and Good Itself: wherefore, to say that lie 
can immediately save all, and does not, is to speak against His 
Divine Mature. It is hnown from the Word, that the Lord wills 
the salvation of all, and the damnation of no one. 

525. Most of those w^ho enter the other life from the Christian 
world, carry with them the belief, that they are to be saved by 
immediate mercy : for this is the object of their supplications. 
But when such have been examined, it was discovered, that they, 
believed, that, to attain heaven, nothing more was necessary 
than mere admission, and that all who were once let in, enter 
on the full fruition of heavenly joy : being utterly ignorant of 
what heaven is, and what heavenly joy. It was therefore told 
them, that the Lord refuses heaven to no one, and that they 
might be admitted, if they wished it, and might also stay there 
as long as they pleased. Those who wished it were admitted 
accordingly : but as soon as they arrived at the first threshold, 
and felt the heat of heaven breathe upon them, — such heat being 
the love in which the angels are grounded, and received the 
influx of the light of heaven, which is tlie Divine Truth, — they 
were seized with such anguish of he^rt, that they experienced 
infernal torment rather than heavenly joy; horror-struck by 
which, they cast themselves headlong down. They thus were 
convinced, by lively experience, that heaven cannot be bestowed 
upon anj one of immediate mercy. 

526. 1 have sometimes conversed on this subject with angels; 
to whom I observed, that most persons in the world who live in 
evil, when talking with others respecting heaven and eternal life, 
constantly affirm, that entrance into heaven consists in nothing 
but being admitted out of mercy alone: and that those more 
especially believe this, who make faith the only medium of sal- 
vation. For these, from the first principle of their religion, pay 
no regard to the life, and to the deeds of the love which compose 
the life, nor, consequently, to any other means by which the Lord 
implants heaven in man, and renders him receptible of heavenly 
joy : and as they thus reject every actual medium as requisite 
for the purpose, they, as the necessary consequence of their first 

good and true, but into what is evil and false, thus not into divine order, but into what 
is contrary to order, and that hence it is tl:at he is born into mere ignorance ; and that 
on this account it is necessary that he be born anew, that is, be regenerated, which is 
eliected by divine truths from the Lord, tiuit he may be brouglit back into order, nn. 
1047, 2C07, 2-^08, 8518, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286, 10,731. That the Lord, 
when he forms man anew, that is, regenerates him, arranges all things appertaining to 
him according to order, which is, into the form of heaven, nn, 5700, 6690, 9931, 10,303. 
That evik ac'j falsities are contrary to order, and tliat still those who are principled in 
tliotie things are ruled by the Lord, not according to order, but from order, nn. 4839, 
7877, 10,778. That it is impossible for a man, who lives in evils, to be saved by mercy 
sloae. because thhi is> contnrv to divine order, n, 8700. 

297 



526 OF THji WOELD OF SPIKITS, AND 

principle, lay it dowii as an axiom, that man goes to htaven of 
mercv alone, — God tne Father, as they believe, being moved to 
such mercy by the ii^tercession of the Son. To this the angels 
replied, that they kii3W that such a dogma necessarily follows 
from tlie assumed piiiiciple of salvation by faith alone ; and as 
that dogma is the head of the rest, and, it not being true, no light 
from heaven can flow into it, that it is the source of the ignorance 
in which the church at this day is immersed respecting the 
Lord, respecting heaven, respecting the life after death, respect- 
ing heavenly joy, respecting the essence of love and charity, and, 
in general, respecting good, and its conjunction with truth ; and 
consequently respecting the life of man, what is its origin, and 
what its nature ; although no one possesses life from thought 
alone, but from his will and the deeds thence performed, and 
only so far from the thought as the thought partakes of the will ; 
and consequently no one possesses life by his faith, except so 
far as his faith partakes of love. The angels grieve that those 
parties should not know that faith alone cannot exist with any 
one, because faith, independent of its origin, which is love, is 
only superficial knowledge, and, with some, a sort of confident 
persuasion, which puts on the semblance of faith (see above, n. 
482) ; though this persuasion is not seated in the man's life, but 
is extrinsic to his life, being separated from the man if it does 
not cohere with his love. They said, further, that those who 
hold such a principle respecting the essential medium of salva- 
tion with man, cannot do otherwise than believe in immediate 
mercy ; since they perceive by natural light, and also by ocular 
evidence, that separate faith does not constitute man's life, be- 
cause they who lead a bad life can think in the same manner, 
and induce on themselves the same persuasion : w'hich is the 
reason that it is believed, that the bad may be saved as well as 
the good, provided they only, at the hour of death, speak with 
confidence of the Lord's intercession, and of mercy as procured 
by that intercession. The angels declared, that they had never 
yet seen any one, who had lived wickedly, received into heaven 
by an act of immediate mercy, how much soever, when in the 
world, he might have spoken from such trust or confidence ; as 
in a more eminent sense is meant by faith. On being asked 
whether Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, with the apostles, 
had not been received into heaven of immediate mercy, they 
replied, Not one of them ; and they affirmed, that every one of 
them had been received according to his life in the world ; and 
that they knew where they were ; and that they w^ere not there 
held in more esteem than others. They observed, that the 
reason why they are mentioned with honor in the Word, is, 
because, in the internal sense, by them was meant the Lord ; 
by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord as to His Divinity and 
His Divine Humanity ; by David, the Lord as to His Divine 
29S 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 526, 52Y 



Royalty ; and by the apostles, tlie Lord as to divine trntlis. 
They said, further, that they do not at all think about those 
persons when the Word is read by man, because their namef> 
do not enter into heaven ; but instead of them, they have a per- 
ception of the Lord; as just stated; and that, consequently, in 
the Word, as it exists in heaven (respecting which, see above, n. 
259), those individuals are nowhere mentioned ; because that 
Word is the internal sense of the Word wdiich exists in the 
world. (^) 

527. That it is impossible to implant the life of heaven in 
those who have led an opposite life in the world, I am able to 
testify from much experience. There were some who imagined 
that they should easily receive divine truths after death, on 
hearing them from angels, and should believe them, and, in 
consequence, should live in a different manner, and thus be 
capable of being received in heaven. But the experiment was 
tried on great numbers ; only, however, on such as had held 
that opinion ; to whom the trial was permitted, in order that 
they might be convinced, that there can be no repentance after 
death. Some of those on whom the trial was made, understood 
the truths they heard, and seemed to receive them ; but no 
sooner did they turn towards the life of their love, than they 
rejected them, and even spoke against them. Some rejected 
them instantlv, beins; unwillins: so much as to hear them. Some 
were desirous that the life of the love contracted by them in the 
world should be taken from them, and the angelic life, or the 
life of heaven, infused in its place. This, also, by permission, 
wa§ done for them : but when the life of their love w^as taken 
away, they lay as if dead, no longer possessing the use of any 
of their faculties. From these and other modes of experiment, 
the simple good were instructed, that no one's life can possibly 
be changed after death, and that to transmute an evil life into 
a good one, or the life of an infernal into that of an angel, is 
utterly impracticable : since every spirit is, from head to foot, 
Buch in quality as his love is, consequently, such as his life is ; 
and to metamorphose this into an opposite one, were to destroy 
the spirit altogether. The angels declare, that it were easier to 
change a bat into a dove, or an owl into a bird of paradise, than 

(") That by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the hiternal sense of the Word, is meant 
the Lord, as to the Essential Divinity and the Divine Humanity, nn. 1893, 4615, 6098, 
6185, 6276, 6804, 6847. That Abraham is unknown in heaven, nn. 1834, 1876, 3229. 
That by David is meant the Lord as to His Divine Eoyalty, nn. 1888, 9954. That the 
twelve apostles represented the Lord as to all thinsrs belonging to the church, thus be- 
longing to faith and love, nn. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. "'That Peter representedjhe 
Lord as to faith, James as to charity, and John as to the works of charity, nn. 3750, 
10,087. That by the twelve apostles sitting on twelve thrones, and iudghig the twelve 
tribes of Israel, is signified, that the Lord will judge according to the truths and goods 
of faith and love, nn. 2129, 6397. That the names of the persons and the places men- 
lloned in the Word do not enter heaven, but are turned into things and states; and 
that neither, in heaven, can the names be uttered, nn. 1876, 5225, 6516, 10,216, 10,282, 
10 432. That the angels also think abstractedly from persons, nn. 8343, 8985, 9007. 



528, 529 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 

to change an infernal spirit into an angel of heaven. (That man, 
in quality, remains after death, such as his life had been in the 
world, may be seen above in its proper Section, nn. 4Y0 — 184.) 
From these facts it may now aj^pear with certainty, that no one 
can be received into heaven by an act of immediate mercy. 



THAT IT IS NOT SO DIFFICULT TO LIVE THE LIFE WHICH LEADS 
TO HEAVEN, AS IS COMMONLY SUPPOSED. 

528. Some imagine, that to live the life which leads to heaven, 
which is called a spiritual life, is a difficult matter, because they 
have heard that a man must renounce the world, must deprive 
himself of what are called the lusts of the body and the flesh, 
and must live in a spiritual manner. By this they understand, 
that the}^ must reject worldly things, which chiefly consist in 
riches and honors ; must be continually intent on pious medita- 
tions respecting God, salvation, and eternal life; and must 
spend their life in prayer, and in the reading of the Word and 
books of piety. This is what they conceive to be meant, by 
renouncing the world, and living to the spirit and not to the 
flesh. But that the truth on the subject is very diflferent, has 
been granted me to know by much experience, and from my 
conversation with angels ; from which I have learned, that, in 
fact, those who renounce the world, and live to the spirit, in 
this way, acquire a melancholy sort of life, which is not capable 
of receiving the joys of heaven ; and his own life remains with 
every one hereafter. I have thus been assured, on the contrary, 
that in order to a man's receiving the life of heaven, it is neces- 
sary for him to live in the world, engage in its duties and busi- 
ness ; and that, by living a moral and civil life, he then receives 
spiritual life ; and that there is no other way by which the spir- 
itual life can be formed in man, or his spirit be prepared for 
heaven. For to live an internal life and not an external one at 
the same time, is like living in a house which has no founda- 
tion; which, in process of time, either sinks into the ground, 
or cracks and splits to pieces, or totters till it falls. 

529. If a rational vicvr and examination be taken of the life 
of man, it will be found that it is threefold ; that is, that there 
is a spiritual life, a moral life, and a civil life, all distinct from 
each other. For there are men who live a civil life, but not a 
moral and spiritual one : there are others who live a moral life, 
and yet not a spiritual one: and there are others who live a 
civil life, a moral life, and a spiritual life, all at once. The last 
class are those who lead the life of heaven ; but the two others 
are those who only lead the life of the world separate from the 
life of heaven. From these truths it may evidently appear, in 

300 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFfER DEATH. 529, 530 

the first place, that the spiritual life is not unconnected with 
the natural life, or the life of the world, but that there is a con- 
junction between them like that between the soul and the body, 
and that to separate them would be like living in a house with- 
out a foundation, as just observed. Moral and civil life form 
the actual result of the spiritual life ; for to will well belongs 
to the spiritual life, and to do well belongs to the moral and civil 
life ; and without this, the spiritual life consists in nothing but 
thinking and speaking,«from which the will withdraws, because 
it has no basis to rest on ; and yet the will is the essential spir- 
itual constituent of man. 

530. That it is not so difficult to live the life which leads to 
heaven as is commonly supposed, may be seen from the follow- 
ing considerations. Who is there that is not able to lead a 
moral and civil life, when every one is initiated into it from his 
infancy, and knows how to practise it by his living in the world ? 
Every one, also, does actually lead such a life, whether he be a 
bad man or a good one :* for who is there that does not wish 
to be reputed a sincere and just man? Almost all externally 
practise sincerity and justice, so perfectly as to appear as if they 
were sincere and just in their heart, or acted from real sincer- 
ity and justice. The spiritual man ought to do the same, and 
is able to do it as easily as the natural man ; only there will be 
this difference ; that the spiritual man believes in the Divine 
Being, and acts sincerely and justly, not merely because civil 
and moral laws require it, but out of regard to the divine laws, 
because these require it also. A man who, when he acts, thinks 
of the divine laws, has communication with the angels of heav- 
en, and in proportion as he so thinks and acts, he enters into 
conjunction with them ; and in this way his internal man is 
opened, which, viewed in itself, is the spiritual man. When a 
man is in this state, he is adopted and led by the Lord, although 
he is not conscious of it ; and then, in practising the sincerity 
and justice which belong to the moral and civil life, he acts 
from a spiritual origin ; and to practise sincerity and justice 
from a spiritual origin, is to do so from actual sincerity and jus- 
tice, or to practise them from the heart. The justice and sincer- 
ity of such a person appear, in their external form, exactly like 
the same virtues as practised by natural men, and even by those 
who are evil and infernal ; but in their internal form they are 
totally different. For the evil only act sincerely and justly out 
of regard to themselves and the world ; wherefore, were they 
not afraid of the law and its penalties, and of the loss of char- 
acter, honor, gain, or life, they would act with the utmost in- 

* It will be observed, that, throughout this Section, the author is not treatiug of 
those wlio are opeuly wicked, but of such as, though inwardly wicked, are outwardlv 

good: his object being to show, that even the wicked can lead good^ moral and civil 
ves, and, eousequently, tliat all are able to live spiritual lives also. — JS\ 

301 



530, 531 OF THE WOELD OF SPIEITS, AND 

sincerity and injustice ; for they have no fear of God, nor of any 
divine law, and, consequently, have no internal bond to restrain 
them ; wherefore, were it not for the external bonds, just men- 
tioned, they would defraud, rob, and plunder others, to the ut- 
most of their ability, and would take delight in such practices. 
That such is their character inwardly, manifestly appears from 
those who are like them in the other life, wdiere every one is 
6trip]3ed of his externals, and has his internals opened, in which 
he afterwards lives to eternity (see abe)ve, nn. 499 — 511) ; for 
then, being free from external restraints, which, as just stated, 
consist in fear of the law, and of the loss of character, honor, 
gain, or life, they behave insanely, and laugh at sincerity and 
justice. But those who have acted sincerely and justly out of 
regard to the divine laws, when stripped of their externals and 
left in their internals, behave wisely, because they are in con- 
junction with the angels of heaven, by communication from 
whom they receive their wisdom. From these facts it may now 
first appear evident, that the spiritual man can act as the nat- 
ural man does, in the affairs of civil and moral life, provided 
only, as to his internal man, or as to his will and thought, he 
be in conjunction with fhe Divine Being. (See above, nn. 358, 
359, 360.) 

531, The laws of spiritual life, the laws of civil life, and the 
laws of moral life, are also delivered in the ten commandments 
of the Decalogue ; the laws of spiritual life being delivered in 
the first three,* the laws of civil life in the next four, and the 
laws of moral life in the last three. In external form, the 
merely natural man lives according to all these commandments 
in the same manner as the spiritual man does : for he w^orships 
the Divine Being in similar manner, he goes to church, he 
listens to the sermon, and he settles his countenance in a devo- 
tional form : he does not commit murder, he does not commit 
adultery, he does not steal, he does not bear false witness, and 
he does not defraud his neighbors of their goods. But he only 
acts thus out of regard to himself and to the world, or to keep 
up appearances. In internal form, the same individual is the 
exact opposite of what he appears in externals. As in his heart 
he denies the Divine Being, in his worship he plays the hypo- 
crite, and, when he is left to himself and his own thoughts, he 
laughs at the holy things of the church, believing that they only 
serve to keep the simple multitude under restraint. Such a per- 
son, in consequence, is completely separated from heaven ; on 

* It is to be remembered, that the division of the commandments followed by our 
Author, is that adopted in the Komau Catholic and Lutheran Churches ; in which tho 
first commandment includes the first and second of the Church of England division ; 
and the last of the Church of England division is divided into two. Tiius the first 
three, as mentioned above, are what are commonly reckoned, in this country, the first 
four ; the four next, are what arc commonly called the fifth, sixtli, seventh, and eighth, 
and the three last are those commonly accouu'"ed the ninth and the tenth. — N. 

302 



OP' TJIE STATE OF MAN AFIEK DEATH. 531, 532 

which account, not behig a spiritual man, neither is he trulv a 
moral man nor a civil man. For althouo:h he does not commit 
murder, he hates every one who opposes him, and burns with 
revenge inspired by such hatred : ft*om which cause, were he 
not prevented by civil laws, and bj external bonds, which are 
fears, he would commit murder ; and as he continually desires 
this, it follows that he is continually a murderer. So, although 
he does not commit adultery, still, since he believes it .to be 
allowable, he is a perpetual adulterer ; for he does commit it as 
far as he can, and as often as he can do it with impunity. So, 
although he does not steal, still, as he lusts after the goods oi 
others, and does not esteem frauds and wicked artifices to be 
contrary to what is lawful, he continually plays the thief in his 
mind. His conduct is similar with regard to the precepts of 
moral life, which are those that relate to not bearing false wit- 
ness, and not coveting the goods of others. Such, in quality, 
is every man who denies the Divine Being, and has not any 
conscience derived from religion. That all such persons are oi 
this character, manifestly aj)pears from those like them in the 
other life, when, their externals being removed, they are let 
into their internals ; for then, being separated from heaven, they 
act in unity with hell ; on which account, they are connected in 
society with its inhabitants, l^ot so those who in heart have 
acknowledged the Divine Being, and who, in the actions of their 
life, have had respect to the divine laws, and have acted ac- 
cording to the three first commandments of the Decalogue as 
well as the others. When these are let into their internals, on 
their externals being taken away, they are wiser than they were 
in the world. TTith them, to come into their internals, is like 
passing out of shade into light, out of ignorance into wisdom, 
and out of a sorrowful life into a happy one ; because they are 
in the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord, and, conse- 
quently, in heaven. These particulars are stated, in order that 
it may be known what a difierence there is between these two 
classes of persons, though they have led similar lives in the 
world. 

532. Every one may know, that the thoughts flow and take a 
tendency according to the intentions, or towards that to which 
the man directs them : for the thought is man's internal sight, 
which is like the external sight, in being turned and fixed on 
the object to which it is bent and directed. If, therefore, the 
mternal sight, or the thought, is turned towards the world, and 
is fixed uj^on it, it follows that the thought becomes worldly : if 
it is turned to self, and to self-honor, that it becomes corporeal ; 
but if towards heaven, that it becomes heavenlv : whence it fol- 
lows, also, that if it is turned towards heaven, it is elevated ; if 
towards self, that it is withdrawn from heaven, and immersed, 
in the corporeal nature ; and if towards the world, that it is also 

303 



532 OF THE WOULD OF SPIRITS, AND 

deflected from heaven, and is spent upon the objects that are 
before the eyes. Man's love is what produces the intention, and 
determines his internal sight, or his thought, towards its objects; 
consequently, the love of self determines the thought towards 
self and selfish objects ; the love of the world towards w^orldly 
objects ; and the love of heaven towards heavenly ones. From 
these truths may be known, when a man's love is known, in 
what sort of state are the interiors that belong to his mind ; or 
that the interiors of a man who loves heaven, are elevated to 
wards heaven, and are open above ; and that the interiors of a 
man who loves the world and himself, are closed ab<)ve and 
open exteriorly. From which it may be concluded, that if the 
superior parts or faculties belonging to the mind are closed above, 
the man can no longer see the objects belonging to heaven and 
the church, and that then these, to him, are enveloped in dark- 
ness ; and objects that are in darkness are either denied or are 
not understood. It is owing to this, that those who supremely 
love themselves and the world, having the superior parts or fac- 
ulties of their mind closed, in heart deny divine truths, and if 
they at all speak about them from the memory, they still do not 
understand them ; for they regard them in the same way as they 
regard things worldly and corporeal. Such being their state, 
nothing occupies their minds but what enters through the senses 
of the body, and in nothing else do they take delight. Among 
the things which thus enter are many that are filthy, obscene, 
profane, and direfully wicked ; nor can their external mind be 
withdrawn from such things, because no influx can take place 
into their internal mind from heaven, since this, as just observed, 
is closed above. The intention of man, which is what deter- 
mines the direction of his internal sight, or thought, is his will; 
for what a man wills, he also intends, and Avhat he intends, 
engages his thoughts : if, therefore, his intention is directed 
towards heaven, thither, also, is his thought determined, and 
with it his whole mind, which, in consequence, is in heaven ; 
whence, he afterwards views the objects of the world as below 
him, as a person does who looks from the roof of a house. 
Owing to this, a man with whom the interiors which belong to 
his mind are open, is able to see the evils and falsities which 
adhere to him, because these are seated in a region below that 
of his spiritual mind ; but, on the contrary, a man whose inte- 
riors are not open, cannot see his own evils and falsities, be- 
cause he is immersed in them, and is not elevated above them. 
From these facts mav be concluded, from what origin a man 
possesses wisdom, and from what origin he is possessed by 
insanity ; and also, what sort of a being he will prove after 
death, when he finds himself left at liberty both to will and 
think, and to act and speak, according to his interiors. These 
facts are stated, also, that it maj^ be known, how dificrent a sort 
304 



OF THE STATE 01 MAN AFTER DEATH. 533, 534 

of person one man may be interiorly from another, how like 
him soever he may exteriorly appear. 

533. That it is not so difficult to live the life which leads to 
heaven as is commonly supposed, is now evident from the fact, 
that all that is necessary for a man to do, when any thing is 
suggested to him which he knows to be insincere and unjust 
and his mind is inclined towards it, is, to think that it nmst 
not be done, because it is contrary to the divine commandments. 
If a man accustoms himself to tnink in this manner, and acquires, 
by practice, a sort of habit of it, he is, by little and little, brought 
into conjunction with heaven. 'No\y in proportion as a man is 
brought into conjunction with heaven, the superior parts or 
faculties belonging to his mind are opened : in proportion as 
these are opened, he sees what insincerity and injustice are: 
and in proportion as he sees them, they are capable of being 
removed from him ; for it is impossible for any evil to be re- 
moved till after it is seen. This is a state into which man has 
the ability of entering from freedom : for who cannot think, 
from freedom, in the manner just mentioned? But when he 
has entered into it, the Lord works in him for the production of 
every thing that is good, and causes him not only to see evils, 
but also to reject them from his will, and finally to hold them 
in aversion. This is meant by the Lord's words, "J/y yoke is 
easy, and my hurden is ligktP — (Matt. xi. 30.) But it is to be 
observed, that the difficulty of thinking in this manner, and also 
that of resisting evils, increases, in proportion as man commits 
evils from actual will ; for so far as he does this, he accustoms 
himself to them, till at length he does not see them, and at last 
he comes to love them ; when, influenced by the delight inspired 
by love, he makes excuses for them, confirms them by fallacies 
of all kinds, and calls them allowable and good. But this is 
what takes place with those who, on first arriving at adult age, 
rush into evils as if regardless of all restraint, and at the same 
time reject divine things from their heart. 

534. A representation was once made to me of the way which 
leads to heaven, and of tliat which leads to hell. A broad way 
was seen, tending towards the left, or towards the north ; and 
there appeared many spirits who w^ere passing along it. At a 
distance was perceived a stone of considerable magnitude, at 
w^hich the broad way terminated. Beyond that stone, two ways 
went off, one towards the left, and the other, in the opposite 
direction, towards the right. The way which went towards the 
left was narrow or straio^ht, leadino^ through the west to the 
south, and so into the light of heaven ; but that which turned 
off to the right was broad and spacious, leading obliquely down- 
wards towards hell. All the spirits were seen, at first, going in 
the same way, till they came to the great stone where the two 
ways parted off: but when thrr ruTived there, they were separ 

20 ' " 305 



534 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, AND 



ratr»-1. The good turned off to the left, and entered the straight 
"W2V w)uch led to heaven. But the evil did not see the stone 
which stood where the ways j)arted off, but fell over it, and 
were luirt ; and when thej got up, they ran along the broad 
way on the right, which tended towards hell. It was afterwards 
expbJned to me what all these particulars signified. By the 
first way, which was broad, and in which both good and bad 
w^alked along together, conversing with one another like friends, 
because no difference was apparent between them to the sight, 
were represented those who, in externals, live sincerely and 
justly alike, and who are not to be known, by their appearance, 
from each other. But the stone which parted the two ways, or 
the stone at the corner, against which the evil fell, and from 
which they afterwards ran along the way leading to hell, was 
represented the Divine Truth, which is denied by those who 
look towards hell ; and in the supreme sense, by the same stone 
was signified the Lord's Divine Humanity. But those who 
acknowledged the Divine Truth, and the Lord's Divinity at the 
same time, were conducted along the way which led to heaven. 
From these representations it Avas further evinced to me, that 
both the bad and the good lead the same life in externals, or 
walk in the same way, and the one class as easily as the other ; 
but, nevertheless, that those who acknowledge the Divine Being 
from their heart, and especially those within the church who 
acknowledge the Lord's Divinity, are conducted to heaven : 
whereas those who do not, are conducted to hell. The thoughts 
of man that proceed from his intention or will, are represented, 
in the other life, by ways. Li appearance, also, ways are there 
seen, in complete accordance with such thoughts from intention : 
and every one, likewise, walks in them according to his thoughts 
which proceed from intention. Li consequence of this, spirits 
may be known, as to what their quality is, and their thoughts, 
by the ways in which they walk. From these facts, also, it was 
made evident, what is meant by these words of the Lord : 
^^ Enter ye in at the strait gate : for loide is the gate^ and 
hroad is the way^ that leadeth unto destruction y and inany there 
are who go in thereat: because strait is tlie gate^ and narrow 
is the way^ that leadeth unto life / and few there are who find 
ity — (Matt. vii. 13, 14.) It is declared that the way which 
leads to life is narrow, not because to walk in it is difiicult, but 
because there are few that find it ; as is mentioned. From that 
fetone seen at the corner, where the wide and common way ter- 
minated, and from which two other wavs were seen tendino^ to 
0])posite quarters, was shown what is signified by these words 
of the Lord : " What is this then that is written^ The stone ichich 
the hiiilders rejected^ the same is hecome the head of the corner f 
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone^ shall he hroheny — (Luke 
XX. 17, 18.) The stone signifies the Divine Truth ; and tho 
306 



OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH. 534, 53& 

stone (or rock) of Israel, the Lord as to His Divine Humanity ; 
the builders, are the members of the church : the head of the 
corner, is the place where the two ways part off: to fall and be 
broken, is to deny and perish.(^) 

535. It has been granted to me to converse with some in the 
other life, who had retired from the business of the world, ii] 
order to devote themselves to a pious and holy life ; and with 
some who had afflicted themselves in various ways, because they 
imagined, that this was the way to renounce the world, and to 
subdue the lusts of the flesh. But the greater portion of such 
persons, having by these practices contracted a melancholy sort 
of life, and removed themselves from the life (^f charity, which 
can only be acquired by living in the world, cannot be connected 
in society with the angels, because the life of the angels is a 
cheerful one, in consequence of the beatitude which they in- 
wardly experience, and consists in doing good deeds, which are 
the works of charity. Besides, those who have adopted a life 
of retirement from worldly business, are inflamed with the no- 
tion of their merits, and are continually urgent to be admitted 
into heaven, because they think of heavenly joy as the reward 
due to their merit; being utterly ignorant of what heavenly joy 
is. When, in consequence, they are admitted among the angels, 
and into a perception of their joy, which is unconnected with 
any notion of merit^ and consists in the practice and open per- 
formance of duties and kind offices, and in the beatitude arising 
from the good which they do by such means, they are filled 
with astonishment, like persons who witness things quite con- 
trary to what they expected : and being not capable of receiving 
that joy, they depart, and are connected in society with those 
who are like themselves, in consequence of having led a similar 
life in the world. But as to those who had lived in external 
sanctity, being continually in places of worship and putting up 
prayers there, and who had practised self-mortification, thinking 
all the while of themselves, as being, on these accounts, more 
worthy than othei-s of being esteemed and honored, and of being, 
at last, reputed after death as saints ; these, in the other life, are 
not in heaven, because they had done all these things solely 
with a view to themselves. Some of them, having defiled divine 
truths with the love of self, in which they had immersed them, 
are so insane, as to think themselves gods ; on which account, 
they have their lot, among those whose character is like their 
own, in hell. Some of them are full of cunning and deceit, and 
have their lot in the hells of the deceitful : these are persons 
who had assumed such appearances in external form, as, by art- 
ful and cunning means, to induce the common people to believe 

C) That stone, or a stone, signifies truth, nn. 114, 643, 129S, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10,376. 
That therefore the law was inscribed on tables of stone, n. 10,376. That the stone ol 
krael denotes the Lord as to divine truth and as to His Divnne HumaLity, n. 6426. 

307 



535 OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, ETC. 

that a divine sanctity resided in them. Many of the Roman 
Catholic saints are of this description. With some of these it 
has been granted me to converse : when their life was mani- 
festly described to me, such as it had been in the world, and 
such as it became afterwards. 

These statements have been made, that it may be known, that 
the life which leads to heaven is not a life of retirement from 
the world, but passed in the world ; and that a life of piety in- 
dependent of the life of charity, which can only be acquired in 
the woi4d, does not lead to heaven ; but that the life which 
leads to heaven is the life of charity, which consists in acting 
sincerely and justly in every occupation, in every business, and 
in all our dealings, from an interior and thus heavenly origin ; 
and that such an origin is inherent in such a life, when a man 
acts sincerely and justly because the divine laws require him to 
do so. Such a life is not difficult ; whereas the life of piety 
independent of the life of charity, is difficult : and yet this life 
leads away from heaven, as much as it is commonly supposed 
to lead to it.Q 

{^) That a life of piety without a life of charity is of no avail, but with the latter is of 
advantage in every respect, nn. 8252, 8253. That charity towards one's neighbor con- 
sists in doing what is good, just, and right, in all our dealings, and in every employ- 
ment, nn. 8120, 8121, 8122. That charity towards the neighbor extends itself to all the 
things, even to the most particular, which a man thinks, wills, and acts, n. 8124. That 
a life of charity is a life according to the Lord's precepts, n. 3249. That to live accord- 
ing to the Lord's precepts is to love the Lord, nn. 10,143, 10,153, 10,310, 10,578, 10,648. 
That genuine charity is not meritorious, because it proceeds from interior affection, and 
from the delight thence resulting, nn. (2540,) 2371, (2400.) 3887, 6388—6393. That man 
after death remains of such a quality, as was his life of charity in the world, n. 8256. 
That heavenly blessedness flows from the Lord into the life of charity, n. 2363. That 
no one is admitted into heaven by thinking only, but by willing and doing good at the 
same time, nn. 2401, 3459. That unless the doing of good is conjoined with wiliinff 
good and with thinking good, there is no salvation, nor any conjunction of the i^terniu 
man with the external, n. 3987. 

308 



OF HELL. 



THAT THE LORD GOVERNS THE HELLS. 

536. When treating above respecting heaven, it has every 
where been shown that the Lord is the God of Heaven ^see, 
specifically, nn. 2 — 6) ; and thus that the whole government of 
the heavens is that of the Lord. ]^ow as the relation which 
lieaven bears to hell, and that which hell bears to heaven, is 
such as exists between two opposites, which mutually act against 
each other, and the result of whose action and reaction is a state 
of equilibrium, in which all things may subsist : therefore, in 
order that all and every thing should be maintained in equi- 
librium, it is necessary^ that He who governs the one should also 
govern the other. For unless the same Ruler were to restrain 
the assaults made by the hells, and to keep down the insanities 
which rage in them, the equilibrium would be destroyed, and 
with it the whole universe. 

537. But some preliminary observations on equilibrium shall 
here be offered. It is well know^n, that when two things mutu- 
ally act against each other, and when the reaction and resist- 
ance of the one are equal to the action and impulse of the other, 
no surplus force remains to either, there being the same power 
on both sides ; and that, in this situation, each may be guided 
by a third agent at pleasure : for when the force of the two is 
neutralized by their equal opposition, the force of the third does 
every thing, and acts with as much facility as if there were no 
opposition at all. There is such an equilibrium betw^een hell 
and heaven : but it is not an equilibrium like that between two 
persons engaged in personal conflict, the strength of each of 
whom is equivalent to that of the other : but it is a spiritual 
equilibrium, which is that of falsity pressing against truth, and 
of evil against good : for falsity grounded in evil continually 
exhales from hell, and truth grounded in good continually ex- 
hales from heaven. It is this spiritual equilibrium that causes 
man to enjoy freedom in thinking and willing. For whatever 
a man thinks and wills has reference either to evil and the fal- 
sity proceeding from it, or to good and the truth which comes 
from that source : consequently, when he is placed in that 
equilibrium, he enjoys the liberty of either admitting and re- 
ceiving evil and its falsity from hell, or good and its truth from 

309 



538—540 HELL. 

heaven. Every man is maintained in this equilibrium hy the 
Lord, because he governs both — heaven as v^^ell as hell. But 
why man, by means of such an equilibrium, is maintained in 
this liberty, and why evil and falsity are not taken away from 
him, and good and truth infused into him, by Divine Power, 
will be explained in its j^roper Section below. 

538. It has often been granted roe to perceive the sphere of 
falsity originating in evil exhaling from hell. It was like an in- 
cessant effort to destroy every thing good and true, combined 
with anger, and a sort of raving madness, at not being able to 

■ effect it : there was, especially, an effort to destroy the Divine 
Sphere proceeding from the Lord, because every thing good and 
true comes from Him. But there was perceived, as proceeding 
from heaven, a sphere of truth originating in good, by which 
the mad fury of the effort ascending from hell was held in 
check. The result is equilibrium. This sphere from heaven 
was perceived to be from the Lord alone, though it appeared to 
come from the angels in heaven. The reason that it was per- 
ceived to come from the Lord alone, and not from the angels, 
is, because every angel in heaven acknowledges that there is 
nothing of good and truth originating in himself, but that it is 
all from the Lord. 

539. All power, in the spiritual world, belongs to truth, origi- 
nating in good, and none whatever is possessed by falsity origi- 
nating in evil. The reason that all power resides in truth 
originating in good, is, because the actual Divine Sphere in 
heaven is Divine Good and Divine Truth ; and all power be- 
longs to the Divine Being. The reason that no power whatever 
is possessed by falsit}'^ originating in evil, is, because all power 
resides in truth originating in good ; and in falsity originating 
in evil there exists nothing of truth originating in good. The 
result is, that all power is in heaven, and none at all in hell. 
For every one in heaven is grounded in truths originating in 
good, and every one in hell is immersed in falsities originating 
in evil : since no one is admitted into heaven, until he is ground- 
ed in truths originating in good, nor is any one cast down into 
hell until he is immersed in falsities originating in evil. (That 
such is the fact, may be seen in the Sections that treat of the first, 
second, and third states of man after death, nn. 491 — 520. And 
that all power resides in truth dei-ived from good, may be seen 
in the Section on the Power of the Angels of Heaven, nn. 228 
-^233.) 

540. Such, then, is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. 
The inhabitants of the world of spirits exist in that equilibrium, 
because the world of spirits is intermediate between heaven and 
hell. From the same cause, all men in the natural world are 
maintained in the same equilibrium ; for men in the natural 
world are governed of the Lord through the medium of spirits 

310 



HELL. 541—543 

in the world of spirits ; a subject tliat will be treated of in its 
proper Section below. Such an equilibrium could not be main- 
tained, did not the Lord govern both, — heaven as w^ell as hell, 
and regulate the effort on each side : otherwise, falsities origin- 
ating in evil would attain the preponderance, and would influ- 
ence the simple good who dwell in the ultimate circumferences 
of heaven, who might be more easily perverted than the angels 
themselves: on the accomplishment of which, the equilibrium 
would perish, and together with it, the freedom enjoyed by men. 

oil. Hell, like heaven, is divided into societies, and, in fact, 
into as many as there are in heaven : for every society in heaven 
has a society opposite to it in hell ; which is provided for the 
preservation of the equilibrium. But the societies in hell are 
distinctly arranged according to the various kinds of evil wfth 
the falsities thence originating ; because the societies in heaven 
are distinctly arranged according to the various kinds of good 
and the truths w^hich are thence derived. That every kind ot 
good has an evil opposite to it, and every kind of truth its op- 
posite falsity, ma}^ be known from the circumstance, that neither 
would be any thing without relation to its opposite ; and that 
from its opposite is known w^hat it is in kind, and what in de 
gree ; and that this is the cause of all perception and sensation. 
On this account, it is continually provided by the Lord, that 
every society of heaven should have its opposite in some society 
of hell, and that there should be an equilibrium between tliem. 

542. Since hell is divided into as many societies as heaven is, 
it follows, that there are as many distinct hells as there are so- 
cieties of heaven : for as every society of heaven is a heaven on 
a smaller scale (see above, nn. 51 — 58), so, on a smaller scale, 
every society of hell is a hell. Since, therefore, there are, in 
general, three heavens, it follows, that there are, in general, 
three hells : a lowest hell, which is opposite to the inmost or 
third heaven ; a middle hell, which is opposite to the middle or 
second heaven ; and an upper one, which is opposite to the ul- 
timate or first heaven. 

513. Li what manner the hells are governed by the Lord, 
shall also be briefly explained. In general, the hells are gov- 
erned by the general afflux of Divine Good and Divine Truth 
proceeding from the heavens, by which the common or general 
eftort flowing from the hells is restrained and held in check ; 
and also by the special afflux proceeding from every heaven, 
and from every society of heaven. In particular, the hells are 
governed by angels, to w^hom is assigned the office of inspecting 
the hells, and keeping dow^n the insanities and disturbances 
which prevail in them. Sometimes, also, angels are sent thith- 
er, and regulate them when actually present. But, in general, 
all the inhabitants of hell are governed by their fears. Some 
are governed by fears that had been implanted in them while 

311 



5M, 545 HELL. 

they lived in the world, and which still retain an influence ; but 
as these are not sufficient, and also gradually lose their force, 
they are governed by fears of punishment : and it is chiefly by 
these that they are deterred from committing evils. The pun- 
ishments which they undergo are of many sorts, slighter or more 
grievous according to the nature of the evils to be restrained. 
For the most part, the more malignant spirits, who excel the 
others in cunning and artifice, and are able to keep them in 
obedience and slavery by punishments and the terrors thus in- 
spired, are set over the rest : but these governors themselves 
dare not go beyond the bounds prescribed to them. It is ne- 
cessary to be known, that the only means of restraining the 
violence and furious madness of the inhabitants of hell, is by 
the fear of punishment : there is no other whatever. 

54:4. It has hitherto been su]3posed in the world, that there is 
a certain individual devil w^ho rules over the hells ; and that he 
was created an angel of light, but afterwards became a rebel, 
and was cast, with his crew, into hell. The reason that such a 
belief has prevailed is, because mention occurs in the Word of 
the devil and Satan, and also of Lucifer, and the Word has been 
understood, in those passages, according to the literal sense : 
whereas the truth is, that by the devil and Satan is there signi- 
fied hell ; by the devil being meant that hell which is at the 
back, and which is inhabited by the worst sort of spirits, who 
are called evil genii ; and by Satan, the hell which is in front, 
the inhabitants of which are not so malignant, and who are call- 
ed evil spirits : whilst by Lucifer are signified such as belong to 
Babel or Babylon, who are those who pretend to extend their 
authority over heaven itself. That there is not any individual 
devil to whom the hells are subject, is also evident from the cir- 
cumstance, that all the inhabitants of the hells, like all the in- 
habitants of the heavens, are derived from the human race (see 
above, nn. 311 — 31 Y) ; and that those who have gone thither, 
from the beginning of creation till the present time, are myriads 
of myriads in number, every one of whom is such a devil in 
quality, as he had made himself, while he lived in the world, by 
confirming himself against the Divine Being. (Kespecting these 
subjects,' see above, nn. 311, 312.) 



THAT NO ONE IS CAST INTO HELL BY THE LORD ; BUT THAT THE 
SPIRIT DOES IT HIMSELF. 

545. The opinion has prevailed with some, that God turns 

away his face from man, rejects him, and casts him into hell ; 

and that he is full of anger against him on account of the evil 

of which he is guilty : and some go still further, ainrming that 

312 



HELL. 51:5, 546 

God punishes man, and brings evil upon him. Tliose who hold 
this opinion confirm themselves in it by the literal sense of the 
Word, in which such statements occur ; not being aware, that 
the spiritual sense of the Word, which explains the literal sense, 
is very different, and that, consequently, the genuine doctrine 
of the church, which is derived from the spiritual sense of the 
Word, inculcates different sentiments : for this teaches, that 
God never turns away his face from man, never rejects him, 
never casts any one into hell, and never is angry. (*) This, also, 
every one whose mind is in a state of illumination, perceives, 
w^hen he reads the Word, from this consideration alone, that 
God is Good Itself, Love Itself, and Mercy Itself; and that 
Good Itself cannot possibly do evil to any one ; nor can Love 
Itself and Mercy Itself possibly cast man away from them, be- 
cause this would be contrary to the very essence of mercy and 
love, and, of consequence, contrary to the Divine Nature Itself. 
Those, therefore, who think from an enlightened mind, clearly 
perceive, when they read the Word, that God never turns Him- 
self aw^ay from man, and, as He never turns Himself away from 
man, that He deals with him from a principle of goodness, of 
love, and of mercy ; or, in other words, that He desires his good, 
that He loves him, and that He has mercy upon him. Conse- 
quently, they see also, that w^hen such statements as are above 
alluded to, occur, they conceal within them a spiritual sense, 
according to which those expressions are to be explained, which, 
in the literal sense, are employed in accommodation to man's 
capacity, and which speak according to his first and general 
ideas. 

6^6, Those who enjoy illumination, see, further, that good 
and evil are two opposites, which are as contrary as heaven and 
hell, and that all good comes from heaven, and all evil from 
hell ; and as the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord con- 
stitutes heaven (see above, nn. 7 — 12), that, from the Lord, 
nothing but good flows into man, and, from hell, nothing but 
evil ; and, consequently, that the Lord is continually w^ithdraw- 
ing man from evil, and leading him to good ; but that hell is 
continually leading him into evil. Unless man stood between 
both, he would not possess any thought, nor any will, still less 
any liberty, nor any choice ; for man enjoys all these in conse- 
quence of the equilibrium between good and evil : if, therefore, 
the Lord were to tm*n Himself away from him, and leave him 
to evil alone, he would no longer be a man. From these truths 

(') That anger and wrath, in the Word, are attributed to the Lord, but they apper- 
tain to man, and that it is so expressed, because it so appears to man when he is pun- 
ished and condemned, nn, 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 8875, 9306, 10,431. That evil also is 
attributed to the Lord, when yet from the Lord nothing but good can come, nn. 2447. 
e073» 6992, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7877, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8632, 9306. Why it is so expressed 
in the AVord, nn. 6073, 69'J2, 6997, 7643, 7632, 7679, 7710, 7926, 3282, 9009, 9128. That 
tlie Lord is pure mercy and clemencv, nn. 6997, 8875. 

313 



547, 548 HELL. 

it is evident, that the Lord enters bj influx, witl good, mto 
every man, into the bad man as well as into the good ; but with 
this difference ; that, with the bad man. His operatic^n consists 
in continually withdrawing him from evil ; and with the good 
man, in continually leading him to good ; and that the cause 
of this difference lies with the man himself, because he is the 
recipient. 

547. From these observations it may appear with certainty, 
that it is by influence from hell that man does evil, and by in- 
fluence from the Lord that he does good. But as man believes, 
that whatever he does, he does from himself, the consequence 
is, that the evil which he does adheres to him as his own. It 
hence follows, that the cause of his own evil lies with man, and 
not at all with the Lord. Evil as existing with man, is hell, as 
existing with him : for whether you say evil or hell, it amounts 
to the same thing. ]^ow since the cause of his own e^il lies 
with man himself, it follows, that it is he who casts himself into 
hell, and not the Lord ; and so far is the Lord from le^Mmg 
man into hell, that Pie delivers from hell, so far as the mau does 
not will and love to abide in his own evil. But the whole of 
man's will and love remains with him after death (see above, 
nn. 470 — 484): whoever wills and loves evil in the woiid, wills 
and loves the same evil in the other life ; and he then no longer 
suffers himself to be withdrawn from it. It hence results, that 
the man who is immersed in evil, is connected by invisible 
bonds with hell : he also is actually there as to his spirit : and,, 
after death, he desires nothing more earnestly than to be wtiere 
his evil is. It follows that the man, after death, casts himself 
into hell ; and that this is not done by the Lord. 

548. In what manner this takes place, shall also be stated. 
When a man enters the other life, he is first taken under the 
care of angels, who render him all kind offices, converse with 
him respecting the Lord, respecting heaven, and respecting the 
angelic life, and instruct him in subjects relating to truth and 
to good. If, however, the man, who is now a spirit, is one of 
those, who, while in the world, were acquainted, indeed, with 
such mattei*s, but in heart denied or despised them, he desires, 
after some conversation, to be rid of their company, and actually 
seeks how to depart ; on perceiving which, the angels leave him. 
After joining several other companies, he is at last associated 
with those who are immei°sed in the same evil as himself. (See 
above, nn.445 — 452.) When this is effected, he averts himself 
from the Lord, and turns his face towards the hell with whicn 
he had been connected while in the world ; being the hell which 
is the abode of those who are immersed in a similar love of evil. 
From these facts it is evident, that the Lord draws every spirit 
towards Himself by means of His angels, and also by an influx 
from heaven ; but that the spirits who are grounded in evil 

314 



HELL. 549, 550 

Bli'eiiuously resist, and, in a manner, tear themselves away from 
the Lord : for they are drawn along by their own evil, and 
consequently by hell, as with a rope ; and as the}^ are thus 
drav/n along, and, from the love of evil, are willing to follow, it 
is evident that they freely cast themselves into hell. That such 
is the fact, cannot be believed in the world, in consequence of 
the idea of hell commonly entertained; nor in the other life, to 
the eyes of those who are not in hell, does the actual process 
appear otherwise than in agreement with the common idea. 
But it does not so appear to those who undergo it : for they 
enter hell of their own accord, and those who enter it from an 
ardent love of evil, appear as if they were thrown in a perpen- 
dicular direction, with their head downwards and their feet 
upwards. It is owing to this appearance, that it seems as if they 
were cast down into hell by the Divine Power: on which sub- 
ject more will be stated below. (See n. 574.) From these state- 
ments it may now be seen, that the Lord does not cast any one 
into hell, but that every one who goes there does it himself; 
and that he not only does so while he lives in the world, but 
after death likewise, when he becomes a spirit among other 
spirits. 

549. The reason that the Lord cannot, from His Divine 
Essence, which is Good, Love, and Mercy, deal in the same 
manner with every man, is, because evils, and the falsities 
grounded in them, stand as obstacles in the way, and not only 
dull His divine influx, but reject it entirely. Evils and their 
falsities are like black clouds, which place themselves between 
a man's eye and the sun, and take away the sunshine and the 
serenity of the day. The sun, however, still continues in the 
perpetual effort to dissipate the obstructing clouds : for he re- 
mains behind them, and operates upon them for their disper- 
sion ; and, till this can be effected, he transmits a degree of 
shady light to the eye of man by various indirect passages. A 
similar state of things exists in the spiritual world : but there, 
the sun is the Lord, and his Divine Love (see above, nn. 116 • 
140) ; the light is the Divine Truth (see above, nn. 126 — 140) , 
black clouds, are falsities originating in evil ; and the eye is the 
understanding. In proportion as any one there is immersed in 
falsities originating in evil, he is encompassed by such a cloud, 
the blackness and density of which are according to the degree 
of his evil. From this comparison may be seen, that the Lord 
is perpetually present with every one, but that He is received in 
dillerent ways. 

550. Evil spirits in the world of spirits are severely punished, 
in order that they may be deterred by such punishments from 
the commission of crimes. It also appears as if their sufferings 
were inflicted by the Lord : but still, not the least of the pun- 
ish nieucs which thev undergo comes from the Lord, but all of it 

315 



550, 551 HELL. 

from evil itself. For evil is so combined with its punishment, 
that to separate them is impossible. The infernal crew desire 
and love nothing better than to do injury, especially to inflict 
punishment and torture on others : and they also do injury to, 
and inflict punishment on, every one, who is not protected by 
the Lord. When therefore evil is done by any one from an 
evil lieart, since evil casts away from itself all protection from 
the Lord, infernal spirits fall upon the person who is guilty of 
it, and punish him. This may in some measure be illustrated 
by crimes and their punishments in the world, where, also, they 
are combined together. The laws prescribe for every crime its 
punishment; in consequence of which, whoever commits the 
crime, also incurs the penalty. The only difierence is, that, in 
the world, the crime may be concealed ; whereas this is impos- 
sible in the other life. From these truths it may appear with 
certainty, that the Lord brings evil on no one, and that the case, 
in this respect, is the same as occurs in the world : for there, 
the cause of the punishment of a criminal neither lies in the 
king, nor in the judge, nor in the law ; since neither of theso 
was the cause of the crime committed by the malefactor. 



THAT ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE HELLS ARE IMMERSED IN 
EVILS, AND IN FALSITIES THENCE PROCEEDING, ORIGINATING 
IN SELF-LOVE AND THE LOVE OF THE WORLD. 

551. All the inhabitants of the hells are immersed in evils 
and in falsities derived from them ; and there is no one there 
who is grounded in evils, and at the same time in truths. Most 
bad characters in the world are acquainted with spiritual truths, 
which are those belonging to the church, having learned them 
in childhood, and, at a later period, from sermons and from 
reading the Word, and having afterwards spoken of them from 
such acquired knowledge. Some, also, have led others to believe 
that they were Christians in heart, because they knew how to 
speak from truths with pretended afl'ection, and to deal sincerely 
as if under the influence of spiritual fidelity : but .such of these 
as interiorly thought in opposition to the truths from which they 
spoke, and only abstained from the practice of the evils that 
were agreeable to their thoughts out of regard to the laws of 
their country, and to their own reputation, honor, and gain, are 
all, in heart, evil, and are only grounded in truths and goods as 
to their body, not as to their spirit. In the other life, there- 
fore, when the externals of such persons are stripped ofl*, and 
the internals belonging to their spirits are revealed, they are 
immersed altogether in evils and falsities, and do not retain any 
of the truths and goods which they had professed and appeared 
316 



HELL. 551, 552 



to practise ; and it is made manifest, that those truths and 
goods only resided in their memory, being entertained there 
like any common matters with which they were acquainted, and 
that, when they were in conversation, they thence drew them 
forth, and put on the semblance of good affections, as if under 
the influence of spiritual love and faith. When such persons 
are let into their internals, and consequently into their evils, 
they can no longer utter truths, but only falsities : beciiuse they 
speak from evils, and to utter truths from evils is a thing impos- 
sible, since the spirit is then nothing but his own evil, and what 
proceeds from evil is falsity. Every evil spirit is reduced to 
this state, before he is cast into hell. (See above, nn. 499 — 512.) 
This is called being divested of truths and goods ;(') and the 
divesting process consists in nothing but in the party's being 
let into his internals, thus into i\\Q projprium of his spirit or into 
his spirit itself. (Respecting these, also, see above, n. 425.) 

552. When a man after death is brought to this state, he is 
no longer a spirit resembling in his state a man,^ as he is in his 
first state, treated of above (nn. 491 — 498), but is truly a spirit : 
for one who is truly a spirit has a face and personal form corre- 
sponding to bis internals, which belong to his mind, and, conse- 
quently, has an external form, that is the type or effigy of his 
internals. Such is the state of a spirit, after he has completed 
the first and second states, treated of above. Consequently, it 
is then known, as soon as he is seen, what sort of a spirit he is, 
not only by his countenance, but by his person; and also by 
his speech, and by his gestures. As, likew^ise, he is now in his 
intrinsic identity, he cannot abide anywhere, but where those 
like himself dwell. For, in the spiritual world, there is a com- 
plete communication of affections and of the thoughts thence 
originating ; on which account a spirit is conducted, as if of 
himself, because from his own affection and its delight, to those 
who are like him ; indeed, he also turns himself in that direc- 
tion, because he then inhales his own life, or draws his breath 
freely ; which he cannot do when he turns another w^ay. It is 
to be remembered, that communication with others takes place 
in the spiritual world according to the direction in which a 
spirit turns his face, and that he perpetually has those before 
his face who are grounded in the same love as himself; a cir- 

{^^) That the evil, before they are cast down into hell, are devastated as to truths and 
goods, and that when these are taken away from them, they are carried of themselves 
into heil, nn. 6'j77, 7039, 7795, 8210, 8232, 9330. That the Lord does not devastate 
them, but that they devastate themselves, nn. 7643, 7926. That every evil has in it a 
principle of falsity, wherefore those who are immersed in evil, are also immersed in 
lalsity, although some of them do not know it, nn, 7577, 8094. That those who are in 
evil, cannot but think what is false, when they think from themselves, n. 7437. That 
oU who are in the hells speak falsities from evil, nn, 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357, 7392, 7689. 

* TJie term here used in the original is homo-spiritus^ — "a man-spirit," as mentioned 
in the note above, p. 223 : but as it cannot here be translated, as in every other instance, 
" man, now a spirit," it is rendered as above, wliich seems exactly to express the author's 
meaning:. — K 

317 



552, 553 HELL. 

cumstance whicli continues, let him turn his body about as ho 
may. (See above, n. 151.) It is owing to this, that all infernal 
spirits turn themselves back from the Lord towards those masses 
of thick darkness and of darkness, which, in the s^^iritual world, 
occupy the places of the sun and the moon of the natural world ; 
whereas all the angels of heaven turn themselves towards the 
Lord, as the sun and as the moon of heaven. (See above, nn. 
123, 143, 144, 151.) From these facts it may now appear with 
certaint}^ that all the inhabitants of the hells are immersed in 
evils and in the falsities thence proceeding : and also, that they 
are turned in the direction of their own loves. 

553. All the spirits in the hells, viewed in any degree of the 
light of heaven, appear in the form belonging to their own evil : 
for every one is then the effigy of his own evil, because, in every 
one, the interiors and the exteriors act in unity, the interiors 
visibly exhibiting themselves in the exteriors, which consist oi 
the face, the body, the speech, and the gestures. They thus, aa 
to their quality, are recognized at sight. In general, there are 
forms expressive of contempt of others, and of menace against 
those who do not pay them respect: there are forms expressive ot 
hatred of various kinds : there are forms expressive of revenge, 
also of various kinds. Through those forms their ferocious and 
cruel passions shine forth from their interiors. When, hov/ever, 
others praise them, treat them with respect, and worship them, 
their face draws in its savage expression, and shows an appear- 
ance of gladness arising from the delight thus imparted. All 
those forms, as they actually appear, cannot be described in a 
few words, for no one of them is the same as another: only, 
among those spirits who are characterized by a similar evil, and 
w^ho reside, in consequence, in the same infernal societj^ there 
exists a common likeness, from which, as a plane giving birth to 
varieties, the faces of all the individuals belonging to "the society 
possess a certain resemblance to each other. In general, their 
faces are shocking, and appear void of life, like those of corpses. 
Those of some are black : those of others are fiery, like little 
torches : those of others are deformed with pimples, blotches, 
and ulcers : and with many, no face appears at all, but instead 
of it a hairy or bony mass; and with some, nothing but grinning 
teeth. Their bodies, also, are monstrous in shape, and their 
speech sounds as if full of anger, of hatred, or of revenge : for 
every one speaks ftom his own falsity, and in a tone expressive 
of his own evil. In one word : they all are images of their own 
hell. As to hell itself, it has not been granted me to see of what 
form it is in the whole : it has only been told me, that as the 
universal heaven, viewed collectively, is as one m-an (see nn. 59 
— 67), so the universal hell, viewed collectively, is as one devil, 
and may also be exhibited to view in the shape of one devil. 
(See above, n. 544.) But as to the forms which belong to hells 
318 



HEix. 554, 555 

in particular, or .nfernal societies, these it has often been granted 
me to behold : for at the apertures leading to them in tlie world 
of spirits, which are called the gates of hell, there generally 
appeai-s a monster, which represents the common form of those 
within. The outrageous passions of the inhabitants are also 
represented by shocking and direful appearances, the particulars 
of which I forbear to mention. But it is to be observed, that 
the inferDal spirits appear in such forms only when viewed in 
the light of heaven : but among themselves they appear like 
men ; which is provided of the Lord's divine mercy, that they 
may not appear as loathsome to each other as they do to the 
angels. This appearance, however, is a fallacy : for as soon as a 
ray of the light of heaven is let in upon them, their human forms 
are turned into monstrous ones, such as they intrinsically are, 
and as are described above ; for in the light of heaven, every 
thing appears as it intrinsically is. For this reason, among 
others, they flee from the light of heaven, and cast themselves 
into their own gross light, which is like that emitted from ignited 
charcoal, and, in some places, like that of burning brimstone : 
but this light is also turned into absolute darkness, when any 
ray of light flows in upon it fi*om heaven. It is on this account 
that the hells are said to be immersed in thick darkness and in 
darkness ; and that thick darkness and darkness signify falsities 
originating in evil, such as prevail in hell. 

554. From an inspection of the monstrous forms belonging to 
the spirits in the hells, all of which, as just stated, are forms of 
contempt of others, and of menace against those who do not treat 
them with honor and respect ; together with forms of hatred and 
revenge against those who do not favor them ; it was made evident 
to me, that they all, in general, are forms of self-love and the love 
of the world, and that the evils, of which in particular they are the 
forms, derive then' origin from those two loves. It has also been 
told me from heaven, and proved to me by much experimental 
evidence, that those two loves, — self-love and the love of the 
world, — reign in the hells, and also constitute them : whereas 
love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor reign in the 
heavens, and also constitute them : and that the two foiTaer 
loves, which are the loves of hell, and the two latter, which are 
tlie loves of heaven, are diametrically opposite to each other. 

555. I at first wondered how it was, that self-love and the 
love of the world should be so diabolical, and that those Avho 
are immersed in them should be such monsters to look upon ; 
because, in the world, people reflect but little on self-love, but 
only upon that puffed up state of mind displayed externally 
which is called pride, which, as being obvious to the sight, is 
alone supposed to constitute self-love. Besides, such self-love as 
does not so exalt itself, is believed, in the world, to be the fire ot 
life, bj which a man is excited to aspire to offices and to perforra 

319 



656, 557 HELL. 

uses, and that unless lie looked to the honor and gloiy to be thus' 
acquired, his mind would become torpid. Who, they say, ever 
performed any honorable, useful, or memorable deed, but with 
a view to be celebrated and honored by others, or in the minds 
of others ? And whence, they ask, does this arise, but from the 
ardor of his love for glory and honor, — consequently, for himself? 
The consequence of this mode of thinking is, that it is not known 
in the world, that self-love, viewed in itself, is the love that reigns 
in hell, and that it constitutes hell as existing in man. Such, 
however, being the fact, I will first describe what self-love is : 
and I will show afterwards, that all evils, and the falsities which 
originate from them, spring from that love. 

556. Self-love consists in entertaining good-will for one's self 
alone, and for no others, not even for the church, for one's country, 
or for any society of men, except with a view to one's self: also, 
in doing them good only with a view to one's own fame, honor, 
and glory. Unless a person influenced by self-love sees these in 
the uses he performs for them, he says in his heart,' What matters 
it ? Why should I do it ? and. What shall I get by it ? and so 
omits it. It hence is evident, that a person who is immersed 
in self-love, neither loves the church, nor his country, nor any 
society that he belongs to, nor any use, but himself alone. His 
delight is only that of the love of himself ; and since the delight 
which proceeds from love constitutes a man's life, it follows that 
his life is the life of himself: and the life of self is life proceeding 
from the jpTojprium of man ; whilst the pi'ojprium of man, viewed 
in itself, is nothing but evil. He who loves himself, also loves 
those who belong to him, who, in particular, are his children and 
descendants, and, in general, all who act in unity with him, 
whom he calls his friends. To love these, is also to love himself; 
for he regards them, as it were, in himself, and himself in them. 
Among those whom he calls his friends, are also included all who 
praise, honor, and pay their court to him. 

557. What is the nature of self-love, may evidently appear 
from a comparison of it with heavenly love. Heavenly love 
consists in loving, for their own sake, the uses, or the good 
works, which a man performs to the church, to his country, to 
the society of persons to which he belongs, and to his fellow- 
citizens : for this is to love God and to love his neighbor, since 
all uses and all good works are from God, and are, at the same 
time, the neighbor that is to be loved. But he who loves these 
uses and good works for the sake of the advantage resulting to 
himself from his doing them, only loves them as he does the 
domestics of his family, because they render him service : whence 
it follows, that he who is immersed in self-love, would have the 
church, his country, societies of men, and his fellownsitizens, serve 
him, and not that he should serve them. He places himself 
above them, and them below himself It hence results, that in 
320 



HELL. 558, 558* 

proportion as any one immerses himself in self-love, be removes 
himself from heaven, because he removes himself from heavenly 
love. 

558. But further: In proportion as any one is grounded in 
heavenly love, which consists in loving uses and good works, 
and in a man's being affected with delight of heart when he 
performs them for the sake of the church, of his country, of the 
society of men with whom he is connected, and of his fellow- 
citizen, he is led by the Lord ; since in that love the Lord Him- 
self resides, and He is the Author of it. But in proportion as 
any one is grounded in self-love, which is that of perforaiing 
uses and good works with a view to himself alone, he is led by 
himself ; and in proportion as any one is led by himself, he is 
not led by the Lord : whence it also follows, that in proportion 
as any one loves himself, he removes himself from the Divine 
Presence, and, consequently, from heaven. For a man to be 
led by himself, is to be led by his proprimn^ and the proprium 
of man is nothing but evil : for it is his hereditary evil nature, 
which consists in loving himself in preference to God, and the 
world in preference to heaven.(*) Man is let into his proprium^ 
and consequently into his hereditary evils, as often as, in the good 
works which he may do, he has regard to himself: for he then 
looks from those good works to himself, and not from himself 
to the good works ; on which account, he sets up, in such good 
works, the image of himself, and not any image of the Divine 
Being. That such is the fact, has also been proved to me by ex- 
perimental evidence. There are certain evil spirits, whose places 
of abode are in the intermediate quarter between the north and 
the west, under the heavens, who possess the art of drawing well- 
disposed spirits into \hQ\v proprium^ and consequently into evils 
of various kinds ; which they accomplish thus : They draw them 
into thoughts respecting themselves ; either operating openly for 
this purpose, by praises and ascriptions of honor; or clandes- 
tinely, by influencing their aflections till they become determined 
towards themselves. In proportion as they accomplish their 
object, they turn away the faces of the well-disposed spirits from 
heaven ; and, in the same degree, they darken their understand- 
ing, and call forth evils from thQir proprium. 

558*. That self-love is opposite to love towards the neigh- 

(*) That the proprium of man which he derives hereditarily from his parents, is 
nothing but dense evil, nn. 210, 215, 731, 876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701 ^ 3812. 
8480, 8550, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286, 10,732. That the. pi^oprium of man consists in lovmjt, 
himself in preference to God, and the world in preference to heaven, and in making 
light of his neighbor in comparison with himself, except only for the sake of himself; 
thus that it consists in loving himself; consequentlv, tnat it is the love of self and of 
the world, nn. 694, 731, 4317, 5660. That all evils flow from the love of self and of tlie 
world, when they predominate, nn. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, (7480,) 
7488, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10,038, 10,742. Which are, contempt of others, enmity, hatred, 
revenge, cruelty, deceit, nn. 6667, 7372, 7374, 9348, 10,038, 10,742. And that in these 
evils every false principle originates, nn. 1047, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286. 

21 321 



558, 559 HELL. 

bor, may be seen from the origin and essence of both. The 
love of the neighbor, as existing in those who are immersed in 
the love of themselves, bemns with themselves. It is their 
maxmi, that a man's nearest neighbor is himself; and so, each 
taking himself as the centre, it proceeds to all those who make 
one with him, diminishing as it goes further oiF, according to the 
degree in which the various individuals are connected, by love, 
with himself; whilst all beyond this connection are accounted 
as nothing, and those who are opposed to them and to their evils, 
as enemies, be they, in character, what they may, whether wise 
or upright, sincere or just. But spiritual love towards the 
neighbor begins with the Lord, and from Him as its centre 
proceeds to those who have conjunction with Him by love and 
faith, extending to all according to the quality of love and 
faith existing in them. (^) It hence is evident, that the love of 
the neighbor that begins with man, is opposite to the love 
towards the neighbor that begins with the Lord ; and that the 
former proceeds from evil, because it proceeds from the jpii^o- 
frium of man ; whereas the latter proceeds from good, because 
it proceeds from the Lord, who is Good Itself. It is evident, 
also, that the love of the neighbor which proceeds from man 
and his jyvoprium^ is a corporeal love ; whereas the love towards 
the neighbor which proceeds from the Lord, is a heavenly love. 
In one word : self-love, with the man who is led by it, constitutes 
the head, and heavenly love constitutes the feet, on which he 
stands ; but, if the latter does not serve him, it does not even 
constitute the feet, but is trampled under them. It is owing to 
this, that those who are cast into hell, appear to drop perpen- 
dicularly, with their head downwards towards hell, and their 
feet upwards towards heaven. (See above, n. 548.) 

559. Self-love is also of such a nature, that in proportion as 
the reins are given to it, — that is, in proportion as external bonds 
are removed, which consist in fear of the law and its penalties, 

(^) That those who do not know what it is to love their neighbor, suppose that every 
man is our neighbor, and that good is to be done to everyone who is inneed of assist- 
ance, n. 6704: and they hkewise beheve, that everyone is nearest neighbor to him- 
self, and thus that neighborly love begins from self, n. 6933. That those who love 
themselves above all things, thus witli whom self-love prevails, reckon also the com- 
mencement of neighborlv-'love from themselves, n. 6710. In what manner everv one 
is his own nearest neighbor explained, nn. 6933 — 0938. But those who are Christians, 
and love God above all things, reckon the commencement of neiffhborlv love from the 
Lord, because He is to be loved above all things, nn. 6706, 6711, 6S19— 6^24. That 
the distinctions of the relationship of neighbor are as many, as the distinctions of good 
derived from the Lord ; and that good ought to be done with discrimination towards 
every one according to the quality of his state, and that this is a branch of Christian 
prudence, nn. 6707, 6709, 6710, 6818. That those distinctions are innumerable ; and 
that on this account the ancients, who were acquainted with what is m^eant by a neigh- 
bor, reduced the exercises of charity into classes, and marked them with their respec- 
tive names ; and that hence they knew in what respect every one was their neighbor, 
and in what manner good was to be done to every one prudently, nn. 2417, 6628,6705, 
7259—7262. That the doctrine received in the ancient churches was the doctrine of 
charity towards the neighbor, and that hence they had wisdom, nn. 2417. 238.^, 3419, 
3420, 4S44, 6629. 

322 



HELL. 560, 561 

and of tlie loss of character, of honor, of gain, of employment, 
or of life, it pursues its career, till at last it not only desires to 
rule over the whole terrestrial globe, but over the whole of 
heaven, and over the Divine Being Himself. It never knows 
any limit or end. This tendency lurks within every one who is 
immersed in self-love ; although it does not appear before the 
world, where the above-mentioned bonds hold it in. But that 
sucli is the fact, no one can fail to see who observes the actions 
of potentates and kings, who have no such restraints and bonds 
to withh(;ld them, and who invade the territories of others, and 
subjugate provinces and kingdoms, as far as success attends 
their enterprises, and aspire after unlimited power and glory. 
The same tact is more evident still from the Babylon of modern 
times, which extends its domination over heaven, and has trans- 
ferred all the Lord's divine power to itself, and continually lusts 
to go further. Such persons, when, after death, they enter the 
other life, are utterly opposed to the Divine Being, and to 
heaven, and enlist themselves on the side of hell. (Respecting 
which, see the work On the Last Judgment^ and the Destruction 
t>f Bahylon) 

560. Represent to yourself a society composed of such char- 
acters, all of whom love themselves alone, and no others, further 
than as they make one with themselves : and you will perceive 
that their love is no other than that which exists among rob- 
bers, who, so far as their associates act in conjunction with 
themselves, embrace them and call them their friends ; but 
who, so far as any do not act in conjunction with themselves, 
but reject their domination, fall upon them, and slay them. If 
the interiors of such characters, or their minds, are examined, 
it will appear, that they are full of mortal hatred against each 
other, and that, in heart, they laugh at all justice and sin- 
cerity, and also at the Divine Being, whom they reject as of no 
account whatever. This will still better appear from the 
societies consisting of such in the hells, which will be described 
below. 

561. The interiors belonging to the thoughts and affections 
of those w^ho supremely love themselves, are turned towards 
themselves and towards the world, and thus are turned away 
from the Lord and from heaven. In consequence of this, they 
are possessed by evils of every kind, and the Divine Spheic 
cannot enter them by influx ; for as soon as ever it does, it is 
immersed in their thoughts respecting themselves, and is thus 
defiled, and is at the same time infused into the evils which 
arise from their prqprium. It is from this cause, that all such 
characters, in the other life, look back from the Lord, towards 
that mass of thick darkness which there occupies the place of 
the sun of the natural world, and which is diametrically oppo- 
site to the sun of heaven, which is the Lord. (See above, n. 

323 



562, 663 HELL. 

123.) Thick darkness, also, signifies evil ; and the sun of the 
natural world signifies self-love. (^) 

562. The evils which possess those who are immersed in the 
love of themselves, are, in general, contempt of others, envj, 
enmity against those who do not side with them, hostility on 
that account, hatred of various kinds, revenge, cunning, deceit, 
unmercifulness, and cruelty. As to religion, they not only 
entertain contempt for the Divine Being, and for divine things, 
which are the truths and goods of the church, but they feel 
anger against them ; and this, when the man becomes a spirit, 
is also tm-ned into hatred ; when he not only cannot bear to 
hear of those things themselves, but also burns with hatred 
against all who acknowledge and worship the Divine Being. I 
have conversed with a certain spirit, who, when in the world, 
had been possessed of great power, and had loved himself in a 
greater degree than is usual. This spirit, when he only heard 
mention made of the Divine Being, and especially when the 
Lord was mentioned, was so filled with hatred arising from 
j^Mger, that he burnt with the desire to destroy Him, as he 
w.)uld murder a man. This same spirit, when he was left to 
his love without restraint, also desired to be the devil himself, 
that, from his self-love, he might continually infest heaven. 
This, also, is the desire of many who are of the Roman Catholic 
religion, when they find, in the other life, that the Lord has all 
power, and themselves not any. 

563. There appeared to me some spirits in the western quar- 
ter towards the south, who said that, when in the world, they 
had been in stations of great dignity, and that they deserved 
to be preferred to others, and to command them. They were 
examined by the angels, to ascertain what their character in- 
trinsically was ; and it was found, that, in discharging the du- 
ties of the offices which they had filled in the world, they had 
not had regard to uses, 'but to themselves, and thus that they 
had preferred themselves to uses. But as they intensely desired, 
and were urgently solicitous, to be set over others, it was granted 
to them to take a place among some, whose ofiice it was to 
consult about matters of superior importance : when it was per- 
ceived, that they were unable to attend at all to the business 
that was being considered, or to see things interiorly in them- 
selves, and that, in their speeches, they did not regard the use 
of the matter in question, but some use connected with them- 

• selves ; and further, that they wished to act from their arbitrary 
pleasure, according to personal favor. They were therefore 
dismissed from that function, and left to seek employment for 

(*) That the sun of the world signifies the love of self, n. 2441. In "which sense, by 
•doring the sun is signified to adore those things which are contrary to heavenly love, 
nnd to the Lord, nn. 2441, 10,584. That the sun growing hot denotes the increasing 
e-jncupiscenoe or evil, n. 8487. 

324 



HELL. 563, 564 

h emselves elsewhere. They went on, theiefore, further into 
the western quarter, and were occasionally received upon trial ; 
but they were everywhere told, that they thouglit of nothing but 
themsefves, and of no matter of business except with a view to 
themselves ; consequently, that they were stupid, and were only 
like corporeal-sensual spirits. On which account, wherever they 
went, they were soon sent away again. After some time, I saw 
them reduced to the greatest destitution, so as to ask for alms. 
From these facts it was evinced, that those who were immersed 
in the love of themselves, how wisely soever, from the fire of 
that love, they may seem to speak in the world, still only speak 
from their memory, and not from any rational light ; on which 
account, in the other life, where the contents of the natural 
memory are no longer permitted to be reproduced, they are 
more stupid than others ; the reason of which is, that they are 
separated from connection with the Divine Being. 

564. There are two kinds of dominion, the one being that of 
love towards the neighbor, and the other that of the love of 
one's self. These two kinds of dominion are, essentially, dia- 
metrical opposites. He who exercises rule under the influence 
of love towards his neighbor, entertains good-will to all, and 
loves nothing more than to be of use, and, consequently, to 
serve others. By serving others, is meant, to entertain good- 
will to others, and to perform uses, whether it be to the churcli, 
or to one's country, or to one's society, or to a fellow-citiaen. 
This constitutes such a person's love ; and this is the delight of 
his heart. Such a person, also, when he is raised to stations of 
dignity that elevate him above others, is glad of it ; not, how- 
ever, on account of the dignity, but because he is then enabled 
to perform uses in greater abundance, and of a higher order. 
Such is the dominion that prevails in the heavens. But he who 
exercises rule under the influence of the love of himself, enter- 
tains good- will to none, but to himself alone : the uses which he 
performs are done out of regard to his own honor and glory, 
which are the only uses that he deems worth attention. When 
he serves others, it is with the view, that he himself may be 
served, honored, and permitted to bear rule : he is a candidate 
for stations of dignity, not on account of the good which ho 
may perform in them to his country and the church, but thiit 
he may be in the enjoyment of pre-eminence and of glory, and 
thence of the delight of his heart. The love of bearing rule 
also remains with every one after the close of his life in the 
world. To those who have exercised it under the influence of 
love towards their neighbor, it is also entrusted in the heavens ; 
but then, it is not they that bear rule, but the uses which they 
love ; and when uses bear rule, the Lord rules. Whereas those 
who, when in the world, exercised rule under tl: e influence of 
the love of themselves, are, after ending their life in the world, 

325 



565, 566 HELL. 

ill hell, where thej are vile slaves. I have seen great potentates, 
who, when in the world,, had exe^^'cised rule under the influence 
of the love of themselves, cast among those of the meanest class 
in hell, and some of them among those w^ho there inhabit recep- 
tacles of excrement. 

565. But as to the love of the world, this is not opposite to 
heavenly love in the same degree as the love of one's self is, 
because so great evils are not concealed within it. The love ot' 
the world consists in desiring to obtain the goods of others for 
one's self by any sort of artince, in setting the heart on riches, 
and in suffering the world to withhold and withdraw the mind 
from spiritual love, which is love towards one's neighbor, and, 
of consequence, from heaven and from the Divine Being. But 
this love has many forms. There is the love of wealth for the 
sake of being raised to honors, these being the only objects that 
are loved. There is the love of honor and dignities for the sake 
of gaining wealth. There is the love of wealth for the sake of 
the various uses to be obtained from it, in procuring things with 
wliich people are delighted in the world. There is the love of 
wealth for w^ealth alone ; which is the love of misers. And so 
on. The end for the sake of w^hich wealth is sought, is called 
its use ; and the end, or the use, is that, from w^hich the love 
derives its quality. For the love is such in quality, as is the 
end for the sake of which it is entertained. All other things 
connected with it serve it as means. 



WHAT IS MEANT BY THE FIRE OF HELL, AND WHAT BY THE 

GNASHING OF TEETH. 

566. What is meant by the everlasting fire, and what by the 
gnashing of teeth, which are said in the Word to be experienced 
by the inhabitants of hell, have as yet been scarcely known to 
any one. The reason is, because people have thought materially 
respecting the things mentioned in the Word, not being ac- 
quainted with its sj)iritual sense ; in consequence of which, by 
tire, some have understood material fire ; some, torture in gen- 
eral ; some, remorse of conscience ; and some have supposed 
that the expression is only used to strike men with terror, that 
they might be deterred from the commission of crimes. So, by 
the gnashing of teeth, some have understood the literal act ; 
and some, only a sense of horror, such as is experienced wiien 
grinding of the teeth is heard. But wiioever is acquainted with 
the spiritual sense of the Word, may conclude w^hat is meant by 
everlasting fire, and what by the gnashing of teeth. In every 
expression, and in every sentence or collection of expressions, 



HELL. 566, 567 

jsed in the Word, is contained a spiritual sense : for tlie Word, 
in its bosom, is spiritual, and what is spiritual cannot be other- 
wise expressed, so as to come to the apprehension of men, than 
in a natural manner, because man is an inhabitant of the natural 
world, and thinks from the objects which there exist. What, 
therefore, is meant by that everlasting fire, and what by that 
gnashing of teeth, which wicked men come into the experience 
of after death, or which are suffered by their spirits, which then 
exist in the spiritual world, shall be here declared. 

567. There are two origins of heat, — one from the sun of 
heaven, which is the Lord, and the other from the sun of the 
world. The heat which proceeds from the sun of heaven, which 
is the Lord, is spiritual heat, wdiich, in its essence, is love (see 
above, nn. 126 — IttO) : but the heat which proceeds from the 
sun of the world, is natural heat, which, in its essence, is not 
love, but something w-hich renders service to spiritual heat, or 
love, by affording it a receptacle. That love, in its essence, is 
heat, may be evident from the fact, that both the mind and the 
body grow ^varm on the presence of love, and according to the 
degree of the love, and to its quality ; an effect which is expe- 
rienced by man in winter as well as in summer. The same is 
evident from the heating of the blood. That natural heat, 
which has existence from the sun of the world, renders service 
to spiritual heat by affording it a receptacle, is evident from the 
heat of the body, which is produced by the heat of the spirit, 
and stands, in a manner, in its place ; especially from the effect 
of the vernal and summer heat on all kinds of animals, on the 
arrival of which they annually renew their loves : not, indeed, 
that that heat inspires them wath love, but because it disposes 
their bodies for the reception of the heat which also flows into 
them from the spiritual world ; for the spiritual world flows 
into the natural world, as the cause does into the effect. He 
who imagines that natural heat produces the loves of animals, is 
greatly deceived : for there is an influx of the spiritual world 
into the natural, but not of the natural world into the spiritual ; 
and all love, being a thing belonging to the life itself, is spiritual. 
He, likewise, who imagines, that any thing exists in the natural 
world indej^endently of an influx from the spiritual world, is 
equally deceived ; for what is natural neither exists nor subsists 
but from what is spiritual. The subjects of the vegetable king- 
dom, also, bud forth by an influx from the spiritual world : and 
the natural heat which prevails in the seasons of spring and 
summer, only disposes the seeds into their natural forms, by 
expanding and opening them, so as to admit the influx from the 
spiritual world to act as the cause of their germination. These 
facts are adduced, that it may be known that there are two kinds 
of heat, which are spiritual heat and natural heat : and that spir- 
itual heat proceeds from the sun of heaven, but natural heal 

327 



i 

568—5,70 HELL. 

from tlie sim of the world ; and that tlie influx of the foraier into 
the latter, followed by their co-operation, produces the effects 
which appear before our ejes in the world.(*) 

568. Spiritual heat, as existing wdth man, is the heat of his 
life ; for, as observed just above, in its essence it is love. This 
is the heat which is understood by fire in the Word ; love to the 
Lord, and love tow^ards the neighbor, by heavenly fire ; and self- 
lo\ e, and the love of the world, by infernal fire. 

569. The fire of hell, or infernal love, comes from the same 
origin as the fire of heaven, or heavenly love; that is, from the 
sun of heaven, or the Lord : but it is rendered infernal by those 
w^ho receive it. For all influx from the spiritual world is varied 
according to its reception, or according to the forms into which 
it flows ; just as occurs with the heat and light proceeding from 
the sun of the natural world. When this heat flows into nurse- 
ries of trees and flowers, it produces vegetation, and draws forth 
agreeable and sweet odors ; whereas the same heat, flowing into 
excrementitious and cadaverous substances, produces putrefac 
tion, and draws forth abominable smells and stenches, ^o, the 
light proceeding from the same sun, produces, in one object, 
beautiful and pleasing colors ; and in another, ugly and disagree- 
able ones. It is the same with the heat and light that proceed 
from the sun of heaven, which is love. When that heat or love 
flows into principles of good, as existing with good men and 
good spirits, and with angels, it renders their goods fruitful ; 
whereas when it flows into bad men or spirits, the effect pro- 
duced is contrary ; for their evils either suffocate it or pervert it. 
So, also, the light of heaven, when it flows into truths of good, 
imparts intelligence and wisdom ; whereas, when it flow^s into 
falsities of evil, it is there turned into insanities and phantasies 
of various kinds. Thus its effects, in every instance, are accord- 
ing to its reception. 

570. Since infernal fire, or the fire of hell, is the love of self 
and of the world, it includes, also, every lust belonging to those 
loves ; lust being love in its continuous state ; for what a man 
loves or lusts alter, when he obtains it, he feels as delightful ; 
and man experiences heart-felt delight from no other origin. 
Infernal fire, or the fire of hell, is, therefore, the lust and delight, 
which spring, as their origins, from those two loves. The evils 
belonging to those loves are, contempt of others, enmity and hos- 
tility against those who are not on one's own side, envy, hatred, 
and revenge ; with the ferocity and cruelty which spring from 
those passions. In regard to the Divine Being, they are denial 
and consequent contempt, with derision and revilement of the 

(*) That there is an influx of the spiritual worlJ into the natural world, nn. 6053— 
6058, 6189—6215, 6307—6327, 0466—6-495, 0598—6626. That there is an influx also into 
the lives of animals, n, 5850. And likewise into the subjects of the vegetable kingdom, 
n. 3648. That this influx is a continual eftbrt to act according to divine order, n. 6211 
at the end. 

328 



HELL. 570 

Holy things which belong to the church ; which, after death, 
when the man is a spirit, are turned into anger and hatred 
against them. (See above, n. 562.) And as those evils conthi 
ually breathe the destruction and slaughter of those whom the 
persons immersed in them account as their enemies, and against 
whom thej burn with hatred and revenge, the delight of their 
life consists in desiring to destroy and kill them, aiid so far as 
this is beyond their power, in desiring to injure, hurt, and rage 
against them. These are the things which are meant by fire, in 
the Word, where the wicked and the hells are treated of; some 
passages from which I will here adduce by way of confirmation : 
^''Emry one is a hypocrite and an evil doe)\ and every mouth 

sjMaketh folly. Fo7' wickedness hurneth as the fire^ it shall 

devour the hriars and thorns^ and shall hindle the thickets of 
the forest^ and they shall mount ujp like the lifting tip of smoke. 

And the people shall he as the fuel of fire : no man shall 

spare his hrothery — (Isaiah ix. 17, 18, 19.) ''''I will show won- 
ders in the heavens and in the earthy hlood., and fir e^ and pillars 
of smoke. The sun shall he turned into darkness.'^'' — (Joel ii. 
30, 31.) ''^The land thereof shall hecome hurning pitch. It 
shall not he quenched night nor day / the smoke thereof shall go 
up for everP — (Isaiah xxxiv. 9, 10.) ^''Behold^ the day cometh^ 
that shall hum as an oven '^ and all the proud .^ and all that do 
wickedly.^ shall he stuhhle^ and the day that cometh shall hum 
them up?'' — (Mai. iv. 1.) '^JBahylon — is hecome the habitation 
of demons. — And they cried when they saw the smoke of her 

hurning. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever?'' — (Rev. 

xviii. 2, 18 ; xix. 2.) "Z^ opened the hottomless pit^ and there 
arose a smoke out of the pH^ as the smoke of a great furnace ; 
and the sun and the air were darkened hy reason of the smoke 
of the pit?'' — (Ch. ix. 2.) ''''Out of their mouth issued fire., and 
smoke^ and hrimstone : and hy these was the third part of men 
killed ; hy the fire^ and hy the smoke., and hy the hrimstone?'' — 
(Rev. ix. 17, 18.) ''''If any man worship the heast., the same 
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God., which is poured 
out without mixture into the cup of His indignation / and he 
shall he tormented with fire and hrimstone?'' — (Ch. xiv. 9, 10.) 
''''The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun / and power 
was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were 
scorched with great heat?'' — (Ch. xvi. 8, 9.) '^They were ca^t 
into a lake of fire hurning with hrimstone?^ — (Ch. xix. 20 ; xx, 
1-1, 15 ; xxi. 8.) '-''Every tree that hringeth not forth good fruit 
shall he hewn down., and cast into the fire?'' — (Matt. iii. 10 ; Luke 
iii. 9.) '''The Son of m,an shall send forth his angels., and they 
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend., and them 
who do iniquity ^ and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.'''' 
— (Matt. xiii. 41, 42, 50.) ''''Then shall he say unto them on the 
left hand., Depart from me., ye cursed., into everlasting fi/re., pre- 

329 



571, 572 HELL. 

pared for the devil and his angelsP — (Cli. xxv. 41.) Ihey shall 

oe ''^ cast into everlasting fii^e^ — into hell-fire j'^'' ''''where their 

worm dieth not^ and the fire is not quenchedy — (Cli. xviii. 8, 9 ; 
Mark ix. 43 — 48.) I'he rich man in hell said to A hraham^ "i 
am tormeiuted in this flame.''^ — (Luke xvi. 24.) In these, and in 
several other passages, by lire is meant the lust which arises out 
of seli-love and the love of the world ; and by the smoke thence 
issuing is meant falsity originating from evil. 

571. Since the lust of committing the crimes which originate 
in self-love and the love of the world is meant by the fire of hell ; 
and since that lust prevails in all the inhabitants of the hells 
(see the preceding Section) ; the consequence is, that, when the 
hells are opened, there is seen a fiery appearance accompanied 
with smoke, such as attends conflagrations of buildings, or what 
are called "fires ;" a dense fiery appearance being seen to pro- 
ceed from the hells in which self-love reigns, and a flaming ap- 
pearance from the hells in which reigns the love of the world. 
But when the hells are shut, that fiery appearance is not seen, 
but, instead of it, an appearance like a dark mass of condensed 
smoke. Nevertheless, the same sort of fire continues to rage 
within ; as is rendered perceptible by the heat which exhales 
from them ; which, in some instances, is like that proceeding 
from the burnt ruins after a fire, in others, like that of a heated 
furnace, and in others, like the moist heat of a hot bath. When 
this heat flows into a man, it excites in him lusts, and, in the 
wicked, hatred and revenge ; whilst it renders the diseased 
insane. Such fire, or such heat, is felt by those who are pos- 
sessed by the loves just mentioned, because, as to their spirits, 
they are attached by invisible bonds, even while they live in 
the body, to the hells in which those loves reign. It is, how- 
ever, to be observed, that the inhabitants of hell do not actually 
live in fire, but that the fire is an appearance ; for they do not 
feel any sense of being burnt, but only such a heat as they ex- 
perienced in the world. The appearance of fire arises from cor- 
respondence ; for love corresponds to fire ; and all things that 
appear in the spiritual world, appear according to correspond- 
ences. 

572. It must be kept in mind, that that fire, or the heat of 
hell, is turned into intense cold, when heat fiows into it from 
heaven ; upon the occurrence of which, the infernal inhabitants 
shiver like persons seized with a cold fever, and feel inward 
torture at the same time. The reason of this is, because they 
are utterly opposed to the Divine Being ; and the heat of heav- 
en, which is Divine Love, quenches the heat of hell, which is 
self-love, and extinguishes, at the same time, the fire of their 
life ; in consequence of which, they feel such severe cold, with 
the shivering produced by it, and inward torture at the same 
time. They also, at those times, are immersed in utter dark- 

33a 



HELL. 573, 574 

uess, wlience they experience infatuation, and darkening of 
mind- This, however, occurs but seldom ; only when their out- 
rageous etibrts increase beyond measure, and require to be 
quelled. 

573. As by the fire of hell is to be understood all the lust of 
doing evil flowing from self-love, by the same is also meant 
torment, such as exists in the hells. For the lust flowing from 
that love, is, in those who are inflamed by it, the lust of doing 
injury to all who do not honor, respect, and pay court to them; 
and, in proportion to the anger which they thence conceive 
against such individuals, and to the hati-ed and revenge in- 
spired by such anger, is their lust of committing outrages 
against them. ]^ow when such a lust rages in every one in a 
society, and they have no external bonds to keep them under 
restraint, such as the fear of the law", and of the loss of charac- 
ter, of honor, of gain, and of life, Qvevy one, under the influence 
of his own evil, attacks another, and, so far as he is strong 
enough, subjugates him, subjects the rest to his own authority, 
and exercises ferocious outrages, with delight, upon all who do 
not submit to him. This delight is inseparably attendant upon 
the love of tyrannous rule, so that they accompany each othei 
by equal steps ; for in enmity, envy, hatred, and revenge, which 
are the evils of that love, as has before been stated, the delight 
of doing injury exists inherently. All the hells are societies 
of this description : on which account, every spirit, in every 
society, cherishes hatred in his heart against every other ; and, 
under the influence of such hatred, breaks out into savage out- 
rages against him, as far as he is able to inflict them. These 
outrages, and the torments so occasioned, are also meant by 
hell-tire ; for they are the effects of the lusts which there 
prevail. 

57-1:. It has been shown above (n. 548), that an evil spirit casts 
himself into hell of his own accord : it shall therefore be briefly 
explained, how this is, notwithstanding there exist in hell such 
torments. From every hell there exhales a sphere of the lusts 
which prevail in those who inhabit it. When this sphere is 
perceived by any one in w^hom the same lust prevails, he feels 
affected at his heart, and filled with delight : for lust and its 
delight form a one, since what any one lusts after, is to him de- 
lightful. In consequence of this, the spirit turns himself to- 
wards the place from which the sphere proceeds, and, from 
the heartfelt delight with which it inspires him, desires to go 
thither. He is not as yet aware that such torments exist there ; 
and those who know it, still desire to go there : for, in the 
spiritual world, no one can resist his lust; for his lust belongs 
to his love, and his love to his will, and his will to his nature ; 
and every one, there, acts from his nature. When, in conse- 
quence of this, a spirit of his own accord, or of his own free 

331 



574, 575 HELL. 

motion, comes to his own hell, and enters it, he is at first 
received in a friendly manner ; which makes him believe that 
he has found his true friends. This, however, only lasts a few 
hours. During that interval, trials are made upon him, to dis- 
cover what degree of cunning, and consequent power, he pos- 
sesses. When this is ascertained, they begin to infest him ; 
which they do in various ways, rendering the infestations 
gradually more sharp and violent. This is effected by intro- 
ducing^ him more and more interiorly and deeply into hell : for 
ill proportion as any one is more interiorly and deeply intro- 
duced into hell, the more malignant are the spirits by whom he 
finds himself surrounded. After having practised upon him 
these infestations, they begin to torture him with cruel punish- 
ments ; which they continue, till he is reduced to the condition 
of a slave. But as rebellious commotions are there of continual 
occurrence, since every one there wishes to be the greatest, and 
burns with hatred against the others, new insurrections again 
break out. Thus one scene is changed into another: in conse- 
quence of which, those w^ho had been made slaves are taken 
out of their thraldom, to assist some new devil to subjugate the 
others ; when those who do not submit, and obey the new tyrant 
at his nod, are again tortured in various ways. This goes on 
continually. Such torturings are the torments of hell, which 
are called hell-fire. 

575. As for the gnashing of teeth, this is the continual dis- 
puting and combating of different falsities, and, by conse- 
quence, of. those who entertain them, with each other; com- 
bined with contempt of others, enmity, derision, mockery, and 
revilement; which also break out into butcherly assaults of 
various kinds : for every one fights for his own false persuasion, 
and calls it the truth. These disputings and combatings are 
heard without those hells as gnash ings of teeth ; and they also 
are turned into actual gnashings of teeth, when truths flow into 
them from heaven. In those hells all have their abode, who 
have acknowledged nature and denied the Divine Being ; the 
deeper hells being inhabited by those who have confirmed 
themselves in such acknowledgment and denial. Such charac- 
ters, being unable to receive a ray of the light of heaven, and, 
consequently, to see any truth inwardly in themselves, are, for 
the most part, corporeal-sensual in quality, who are such as be- 
lieve nothing but what they can see with their eyes and touch 
with their hands : in consequence of which, all the fallacies of 
the senses are accounted by them to be truths ; and it is from 
these that the}^ maintain their disputations. It is en this account, 
that their disputations are heard as gnashings ol teeth : for, in 
the spiritual world, all falsities have a grating sound, like the 
gnashing of teeth ; and the teeth correspond to the ultimate 
things in nature, and also to the ultimate things in man. which 
332 



HELL. 575, 576 

are his corporeal-sensual organs and faculties.(^ That tliere 
exists, in the hells, the gnashing of teeth, is stated in various 
passages of the Word. {As in Matt. viii. 12 ; xiii. 42, 50 ; xxii . 
13 ; xxiv. 51 ; xxv. 30 ; Luke xiii. 28.) 



OF THE PROFOUND WICKEDNESS, AND DIREFUL ARTS, OF 
INFERNAL SPIRITS. , 

576. The superior excellence of spirits, in comparison with 
men, may be seen and comprehended by every one, who thinks 
interiorly, and knows any thing of the operations of his own 
mind : for, in his mind, a man can weigh, unravel, and form 
conclusions upon, more subjects, in the space of a minute, than 
he can express in writing or speech in half an hour. From this 
instance it is evident, how far man excels himself when he is in 
his spirit; and, consequently, when he becomes a spirit; for 
the spirit is that which thinks, and the body is that by which 
the spirit expresses its thoughts in speech or writing. It is 
owing to this, that the man who, after death, becomes an angel, 
enters into the enjoyment of an intelligence and wisdom that 
are ineffable in respect to the intelligence and wisdom which he 
enjoyed while he lived in the world : for while he lived in the 
world, his spirit was bound to his body, and existed, by means 
of this connection, in the natural world ; in consequence of 
which, all that he then spiritually thought, flowed into natural 
ideas, which are respectively common, gross, and obscure. In- 
numerable things that are seen by spiritual thought, cannot 
be received by natural ideas at all : and those which they do 
receive are involved in dense shades arising from the cares of 
the world. jS^ot so when the spirit is released from the body, 
and comes into its own spiritual state ; which is effected, when 
it passes out of the natural world into the spiritual, which is 
its proper home. That the state of the spirit then, as to its 
thoughts and affections, is immensely superior to its former 
state, is evident from what has now been observed. It is from 
this cause that the thoughts of the ano^els embrace thino^s ineffa- 
ble and inexpressible, and, consequently, such as cannot possibly 
enter into the natural thoughts of men : and yet, every angel 
was born a man, and has lived as a man ; when he did not 
seem to himself to possess more wisdom than was enjoyed by 
other men like himself. 

(') Of the corre?pondenee of the teeth, nn. 5565 — 5568. That those correspond to the 
teeth who arc merely sensual, and have scarce any thing of spiritual light, n. 5'i65. 
That a tooth, in the Word, signifies the sensual nature, which is the ultimate of the 
life of man, nn. 9052, 9062. That gnashing of teeth, in the other life, proceeds from 
those, who believe that nature is every thing, and tlie Divine Being nothing, n. 5508. 

333 



577 HELL. 

577. In the same degree tliat wisdom and intelligence jDrevail 
in tlie angels, do profound wickedness and cunning prevail in 
infernal spirits. The two cases are exactly similar ; since the 
spirit of a man, when released from the body, is occupied by his 
own good or his own evil, an angelic spirit by his own good, and 
an infernal spirit by his own evil. For every spirit is his own 
good or his own evil, because he is his own love ; as has fre- 
quently been stated and shown above. As, therefore, an angelic 
spirit thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, from his own good, so does 
an infernal spu'it from his own evil ; and to think, will, speak, 
and act from his own evil, is to do so from all the particulars 
included in his evil. It was diiferent while he lived in the body ; 
for the evil of a man's spirit is then restrained by the bonds in 
which every man is held by the law, by his regard to gain, to 
honor, and to his character, and the fear of losiug them ; on 
which account the evil of his spirit cannot then break out, and 
manifest itself according to its intrinsic nature. Besides, the evil 
of a man's spirit then lies veiled over and wrapped up in external 
probity, sincerity, and justice, and in the external afl'ection for 
truth and goodness, of which the man makes a verbal profession, 
and puts on an appearance for the sake of the world : under the 
mask of which his evil lies so concealed, and so buried in ob- 
scurity, that he is scarcely aware himself that so much profound 
wickedness and cunning exist in his spirit, nor consequently, 
that he is, in himself, such a devil, as he becomes after death, 
when his spirit enters into itself, and into its own nature. But 
then, such profound wickedness manifests itself, as to surpass all 
belief Thousands of wicked thing's then burst out of the evil 
itself; among which are some that are of such a nature, that 
they cannot be described by the words of any language. Of 
what kinds they are, has been granted me to know, and also to 
ap]3rehend, by many experimental evidences ; because it has 
been granted me by the Lord to be in the sj^iritual world as to 
my spirit, and in the natural world as to my body, at the same 
time. This I am able to testify, that their profound wickedness 
is such, that scarcely one instance of it, out of thousands, admits 
of being described. I can testify, also, that unless man were 
protected by the Lord, it would be utterly impossible for him to 
be saved from hell : for there are present with every man both 
spirits from hell and angels from heaven (see above, nn. 292, 
293), and the Lord c&nnot protect a man, unless he acknowledges 
the Divine Being, and lives the life of faith and charity ; ibr 
otherwise he averts himself from the Lord, and turns towards 
the infernal spirits ; by whom he is imbued, as to his spirit, with 
profound wickedness, similar to their own. Nevertheless, man 
IS continually withdrawn by the Lord from the evils, w hich, by 
being connected in society with spirits, he applies and, as it 
were, draws to himself: and if he cannot be withdrawn from 
334 



HELL. 578, 570 



them by internal bonds, which are those of conscience, of which 
he is not receptive if he denies the Divine Being, still he is 
restrained by external ones, which, as already stated, consist in 
fear of the law and its penalties, and of the loss of gain, and the 
privation of honor and repntation. Such a man may, indeed, 
be withdrawn from evils by the delights of his own loves, and 
by the fear of losing and being deprived of those delights, but 
he cannot so be drawn to goods of a spiritual order ; tor when 
he is drawn towards these, he meditates cunning and deceitful 
artifices, pretending and feigning to do good, sincere, and just 
actions, with a view of persuading others that he is of such a 
character, and thus of deceiving them. This cunning adds itself 
to the evil of his spirit, and gives it form, causing it to be of the 
same nature with itself 

578. The worst of all are those, who have been possessed by 
the evils originating in self-love, and who have, at the same time, 
in their interior selves, acted from deceit : for deceit enters more 
deeply than any other evil into the thoughts and intentions, and 
infects them with poison, by which it destroys all man's spiritual 
life. Most of these dwell in the hells at the back, and are called 
genii : their delight is to make themselves invisible, and to flit 
about others like phantoms, covertly infusing evils into them, 
which they scatter about as vipers do their poison. These un- 
dergo direful torments beyond others. But those who were 
not deceitful, and not so eaten up by malignant cunning, and 
yet were possessed by the evils originating in self-love, also 
dwell in the hells at the back, but not in such deep ones. 
Those, on the other hand, who have been possessed by the evils 
originating in the love of the w^orld, are in the hells in the front, 
and are called spirits. The evils by which these are constituted, 
are not of such a kind, — that is, thev are not such evils of hatred 
and revenge, — as form the character of those who are possessed 
by the evils originating in the love of self, in consequence of 
which they do not possess such profound w^ickedness and cun- 
ning ; on which account, also, their hells are more mild. 

579. It has been granted me to know by experience w^hat pro- 
found wickedness belongs to those who are called genii. Genii 
do not operate upon, and flow into, the thoughts, but into the 
affections. These they perceive, and trace by scent, as hounds 
trace their game in the forest. Where they perceive good affec- 
tions to exist, they in a moment turn them into evil ones, by 
drawing and bending them in a wonderful manner, through the 
delights of the party on whom they operate ; which they do so 
clandestinely, and with such malignant art, that the party has 
no consciousness of the ojDeration ; for they exercise the most 
dextrous caution lest any idea on the subject should enter his 
thoughts, because this would discover them. They take their 
station, in regard to the man upon whom they operate, beneath 

835 



580, 581 HELL. 

the occiput. These genii consist of those who, when they were 
men in the world, deceitfully captivated the minds of others, by 
drawing and persuading them by the delights of their affections 
or lusts. But these genii are prevented by the Lord from acting 
upon any man of whose reformation there is any hope : for such 
is their nature, that they not only are able to destroy man's 
conscience, but also to call forth his hereditarj^ evils, which 
otherwise remain concealed. In order, therefore, that man may 
not be drawn into these evils, it is provided by the Lord that 
those hells should be kept quite shut : and when any man who 
is a genius of the same kind comes after death into the other life, 
he is instantly cast into their hell. Those genii, also, when they 
are inspected as to their deceit and cunning, appear like vipers. 

580. What profound wickedness belongs to infernal spirits, 
may appear from their direful arts ; which are so abundant, that 
only to enumerate them would fill a book, and to describe them 
would require several volumes. But nearly all those arts are 
unknown in the world. One Mnd has reference to abuses of 
correspondences : a second^ to abuses of the ultimates of Divine 
Order: a third^ to the communication and influx of thoughts 
and affections, by means of turning towards the subject of the 
operation, of fixing the sight upon him, and of operating through 
spirits at a distance from themselves, and through emissaries 
sent forth from themselves : a fourth^ to operations by means 
of phantasies : a fifth^ to ejections out of themselves, by which 
their presence is produced in a different place from that in which 
they are in the body : a sixths to pretences, persuasions, and 
lies. The spirit of a bad man, when released from the body, 
comes into the knowledge of these arts of himself; for they arc 
inherent in the nature of his evil, by which he is then possessed. 
In the hells, by the practice of these art-s, the inhabitants toi-ment 
one another. As, however, all these arts, except those which 
consist in pretences, persuasions, and lies, are unknown in the 
world, I am unwilling here specifically to describe them, both 
because they would not be comprehended, and because of their 
direful nature. 

5«1. The reason that torments are permitted by the Lord to 
exist in the hells, is, because evils cannot otherwise be there 
restrained and subdued. The only means of restraining and 
subduing the;n, and of keeping the infernal crew in bonds, is, 
the fear of punishment. Ko other method is possible. And 
without the fear of punishment and torture, evil would rush into 
deeds of furious madness, and the whole universe would be dis- 
persed : as a kingdom on earth would be, in which there was no 
law, or no penal sanctions to enforce it. 
336 



TTirLL. 582, 583 

OJ THE APPEARANCE, SITUATIOX, AND PLURALITY, OF THE 

HELLS. 

582 In the spiritual world, or in the world inhabited by spirits 
and angels, similar objects appear as in the natural world, or that 
inhabited by men ; so similar, indeed, that, as to their outward 
aspect, there is no difference between them. There appear in 
the spiritual world plains and mountains, hills and rocks, with 
v^alleys between them : there also appear waters, and many other 
things that are seen on the earth. But, notwithstanding, all 
these things proceed from a spiritual origin ; on which account, 
they are visible to the eyes of spirits and angels, but not to those 
of men, because men reside m a natural world ; and spiritual 
beings see the objects which proceed from a spiritual origin, and 
natural beings see those which proceed from a natural origin. 
This is the reason that a man cannot possibly behold with his 
eyes the things in the spiritual world, unless the privilege is ac- 
corded him of being in the spirit, or until he has passed through 
death, when he becomes a spirit himself; nor, on the other hand, 
can an angel or a spirit see any thing in the natural world, unless 
he be present with a man who enjoys the privilege of conversing 
with angels or spirits : for the eyes of man are adapted to receive 
the light of the natural world, whereas the eyes of angels and 
spirits are adapted to receive the light of the spiritual world ; and 
yet the eyes of both are, to appearance, exactly alike. That the 
spiritual world is so constituted, is a thing which the natural man 
cannot comprehend ; least of all can the sensual man, who is a 
person that believes nothing but what he sees with his bodily 
eyes and touches with his bodily hands ; and, consequently, who 
only believes the impressions that he has imbibed by his sight 
and touch, from which impressions it is that he thinks, in conse- 
quence of which, his thoughts are material, and not spiritual. 
Since there is such a resemblance between the spiritual world 
and the natural world, a man who has entered the former after 
death, is scarcely aware, that he is not still in the world in which 
he was born, and out of which he has departed : for which 
reason, death is there described as a translation out of one world 
into another like it. (That there is such a resemblance between 
the two worlds, may be seen above, in the Section on Represent- 
atives and Appearances in Heaven, nn. 170 — 176.) 

583. In the more elevated situations in the spiritual world, are 
the heavens ; in the low ones, is the world of sj^irits ; and be- 
neath both these are the hells. The heavens do not appear to 
the spirits in the world of spirits, except when their interior 
sight is opened : sometimes, however, they appear as mists, or 
as white clouds. The reason that they are not otherwise seen, 
is, because the angels of heaven are in a more internal state, as 
to intelligence and wisdom, than the spirits in the world of 
22 337 



584, 585 HELL. 

spirits, and tlins are above their sight. The spirits, howevej, 
who dwell in the plains and valleys, see each other : but when a 
separation has taken place between them, w^hich is effected when 
thev are let into their interiors, the evil spirits can no longer see 
those that are good, though these can see the evil ; but they turn 
themselves away from them, and when spirits do this they be- 
come invisible to those from whom they avert themselves. But 
the hells do not appear, because they are closed : only the en- 
trances to them, called their gates, are seen, w^hen they are 
opened to admit spirits of similar character to those within. All 
the gates leading to the hells open from the world of spirits : and 
none of them from heaven. 

584. There are hells everywhere, both under the mountains, 
hills, and rocks, and under the plains and valleys. Those aper- 
tures or gates leading to the hells w^hich are under the mount- 
ains, hills, and rocks, appear to the sight like the holes and 
iissuj-es of rocks, some of them stretching far in breadth and 
amplitude, some confined and narrow, and most of them rugged. 
All, when looked into, appear dark and dusky ; but the infernal 
spirits, who are within them, find themselves in a sort of light 
resembling that emitted from ignited charcoal. Their eyes are 
adapted to receive that light, in consequence of their having, 
while they lived in the world, been in darkness, with respect to 
divine truths, in consequence of denying them, and having been 
apparently in light, with respect to falsities, in consequence of 
affirming them ; owing to which, the sight of the eyes of their 
spirit had acquired such a formation^ From this cause, also, the 
light of heaven, to them, is thick darkness ; so that when they 
go out of their caves, they see nothing. From these facts it ap- 
peared to me most evident, that man comes into the light of 
heaven, in proportion as he acknowledges the Divine Being, and 
confirms with himself the thino^s belono-in^ to heaven and the 
church ; and that he comes into the thick darkness of hell, in 
proportion as he denies the Divine Being, and confirms in him- 
self such persuasions as are contrary to the things belonging to 
heaven and the church. 

585. Those aj^ertures or gates leading to the hells which are 
situated under the plains and valleys, have different appearances 
to the si<rht. Some are like those which are under the mount- 
ains, hills, and rocks ; some are like caves and caverns ; some 
are like great chasms and whirlpools ; some are like bogs ; and 
some are likvi stagnant pools of water. All are covered over, 
and are not open, except when evil spirits from the w^orld of 
spirits are cast in. AVlien they are open, an exhalation proceeds 
from them, either like fire attended with smoke, such as appears 
in the air where houses are on fire, — or like flame without smoke, 
— or like soot, such as issues from a chimney on fire, — (»r like a 
mist and thick cloud. I have heard, that ^he infernal spirits do 

838 



HELL. 585, 586 

liot see, nor feel those fires, smokes, or inists, because, when they 
are immersed in them, thej are as if in their own atmosphere, 
and thus in the delight of their life ; which arises from the cir- 
cumstance, that those objects correspond to the evils and falsities 
by which they are possessed ; for fire corresponds to hatred and 
revenge, smoke and soot to falsities originating in those evils, 
flame to the evils of self-love, and mists and thick clouds to the 
falsities originating in them. 

586. It has also been granted me to look into the hells, and to 
see what sort of places they are internally ; for, when the Lord 
pleases, the sight of a spu'it or angel who is above, can penetrate 
to the bottom, and examine what sort of objects they contain, 
notwithstanding their being covered over. It has been granted 
me, also, to look into them in this manner. Some hells ap- 
peared to the sight like caverns or caves in rocks, tending in 
wards, and afterwards obliquely or pei'pendicularly downwards. 
Some appeared to the sight like coverts and dens, such as are 
occupied by wild beasts in forests. Some, like vaulted caverns 
and hidden chambers, such as are seen in mines, with caves tend- 
ing towards the lower regions. Most of the hells are threefold. 
In the upper parts they appear within quite dark, because those 
dwell there who are immersed in the falsities of evil ; but the 
lower parts appear as if on fire, because they are inhabited by 
those who are immersed in evils themselves : for darkness cor- 
responds to the falsities of evil, and fire to evils themselves : 
and in the deeper hells reside those who have acted from evil, 
but more internally ; in the less deep, those who have so acted 
more externally ; and those who do this, act fi-om the falsities of 
evil. In some hells are seen what appear like the ruins of houses 
and cities produced by fires, in which the infernal spirits dwell, 
and in which they conceal themselves. In the milder hells are 
seen what appear like rude cottages, in some places arranged 
contiguously, in the manner of a city, with lanes and streets ; 
and within these houses are infernal spirits, who are engaged in 
continual altercations, displays of enmity, beatings, and efforts 
to fear each other to pieces ; while in the streets and lanes are 
committed robberies and depredations. In some hells are mere 
brothels, which are disgusting to behold, being full of all sorts 
of filth and excrement. There are also dark forests, in which 
infernal spirits prowl about like wild beasts ; and in which, like- 
wise, are subterraneous caves, into which they flee when they 
are pursued by others. There also are deserts, where all is 
sterile and sandy ; with, in some places, rugged rocks with cav- 
erns in them ; and in others, huts. Into these desert places, 
those are cast out from the hells who have suffered the last ex- 
tremes ; chiefly those who, when in the world, were more cun- 
ning than others in plotting and contriving artifices and deceit: 
Their last state is such a life. 

339 



687 . HELL. 

587. With respect to the situation of the hells specifically, this 
can be known to none, not even to the angels in heaven, but only 
to the Lord. Their situation, generally, however, is known from 
the quarters in which they are found. For the hells, like the 
heavens, are distinctly an-anged according to the quarters ; and, 
in the spiritual world, the quarters are deteraiined according to 
the various loves. All the quarters, in heaven, begin from the 
Lord as the Sun, who is the East ; and as the hells are opposite 
to the heavens, their quarters begin from the opposite one, that 
is, from the west. (On this subject, see the Section on the four 
Quarters in Heaven, nn. 141 — 153.) On this account, the hells 
in the western quarter are the worst and the most horrible of all, 
becoming successively more and more so, by degi'ees, in propor- 
tion as they are more and more remote from the east. These 
hells are inhabited by those who, when in the world, had been 
full of self-love, and, consequently, full of contempt of others, 
and of enmity against those who did not side with them, and, at 
the same time, full of hatred and revenge against those who did 
not treat them with respect and make their court to them. In 
the most remote parts of these hells are those who had been of 
the Koman Catholic religion, as it is called, and who then wish- 
ed to be worshipped as gods, and who, in consequence, burnt 
with hatred and revenge against all who refused to acknowledge 
their power over the souls of men, and over heaven. They are 
still actuated by the same mind, that is, by the same hatred and 
revenge, against those who oppose them, as they were in the 
world : it is their supreme delight to commit savage outrages ; 
but this is turned, in the other life, upon themselves : for in their 
hells, of which the western quarter is full, every one rages like a 
madman against every other who does not allow him to be pos- 
sessed of divine power. (For further particulars, see the work 
On the Last Judgment^ and the Destruction of Babylon^ But 
how the hells in that quarter are arranged, cannot be known, 
further, than that the most direful of those of Ihat genus are at 
the sides, bordering on the northern quarter, and the less direful 
are towards the south. Thus the direful nature of the hells di- 
minishes as they proceed from the northern quarter to the south- 
em ; as it also does, by degrees, towards the east. Towards the 
east dwell those who had been full of self-conceit, and did not 
believe in the Divine Being, but who, nevertheless, had not been 
influenced by such hatred and revenge, nor such deceit, as those 
whose abodes are in the deeper regions of the western quarter. 
In the eastern quarter, there are not, at this day, any hells ; 
those which were there having been transferred to the fore part 
of the western quarter. In the northern and southern quarters 
there are many hells : they are inhabited by those, who, when 
they lived on earth, had been full of the love of the world, 
and, from that origin, of evils of various kinds, such as enmity, 
340 



i 



HELL. 587, 588 

hostility, theft, robbery, craft, avarice, and unmerciftilness. TLe 
worst bells of this genus are in the northern quarter, and the 
milder are in the southern. Their direful nature increases, in 
proportion as they are nearer to the western quarter, and also, as 
they are more remote from the south ; and it diminishes, in pro- 
portion as they approach the eastern quarter, and also, as they 
approach the southern. Behind the hells that are in the western 
quarter, there are dark forests, in which malignant spirits prowl 
about like wild beasts : and it is the same behind the hells in the 
northern quarter. But behind the hells in the southern quarter 
are the deserts, mentioned just above. Thus much may suffice 
to be said respecting the situation of the hells. 

588. With respect to the plurality of the hells, they are as 
many in number as are the societies of angels in the heavens, 
because every heavenly society has an infernal society corre- 
sponding to it in the way of opposition. That the heavenly so- 
cieties are innumerable, and all distinctly arranged according to 
the goods of love, of charity, and of faith, has been shown above 
(in the Section on the Societies of which Heaven consists, nn. 
41 — 50 ; and in that on the Immensity of Heaven, nn. 415 — 
420) ; and it is the same with the infernal societies, which are 
arranged according to the differences of the evils opposite to 
those goods. Every evil includes infinite varieties, the same as 
every good. That such is the fact, will not be comprehended, 
by those who only have a simple idea respecting every evil, as 
respecting contempt, respecting enmity, respecting hatred, re- 
specting revenge, respecting deceit, and respecting others of the 
like nature : but be it known to them, that every one of those 
evils contains so many specific differences, and every one of 
these, again, so many other specific or particular differences, that 
a volume would not suffice to enumerate them all. The hells 
are so distinctly arranged in order, according to the differences 
of every evil, that nothing more orderly and distinct can be con- 
ceived. It may "hence be evident, that the hells are innumerable, 
one being near another, or remote from it, according to the dif- 
ferences of their evils, general, specific, and particular. There 
are also hells beneath hells. Some communicate with others by 
intervening passages, and more by exhalations ; the communica- 
tions being regulated precisely according to the affinities between 
one genus or species of evil and the others. How great is the 
number of the hells, was also granted me to know from the fact, 
that there are hells under every mountain, hill, and rock, and 
imder every plain and valley, and that the hells extend under 
them in length, in breadth, and in depth. In one word : the whole 
of heaven, and the whole of the world of spirits, aro, in a manner, 
excavated beneath : and under them is a continuous hell. Thus 
much may suffice to be said respecting the plurality of the hells. 

341 



589 HELL. 



OF THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL. 

589. All tilings must be balanced in equilibrium, in order that 
any thing may be capable of existing. Without equilibrium, 
there is no action and reaction ; for equilibrium is the balance 
between two forces, one of which acts, and the other reacts : the 
state of rest which results from equal action and reaction being 
what is called equilibrium. In the natural world, an equilibrium 
is maintained in all and in every thing belonging to it ; and in 
general, in the atmospheres themselves, in which the inferior 
parts react and resist, in the same ratio as the superior parts act 
and press upon them. In the natural world, also, there is an 
equilibrium between heat and cold, between light and shade, 
and between dryness and moisture ; the medium temperature 
being their equilibrium. There is likewise an equilibrium in all 
the subjects of the several kingdoms of nature, which are three, 
the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the animal 
kingdom ; for without an equilibrium maintained in those king- 
doms, nothing could exist or subsist. Everywhere there is, as it 
were, an effort acting on one side, and another reacting on the 
other. All existence, or every effect, is produced in equilibrium : 
and it is produced in this way ; that one force acts, and another 
suffers itself to be acted upon ; or that one force flows in with 
acting, and ' the other receives it, and yields to it, in a suitable 
manner. In the natural world, that which acts, and that which 
reacts, are called a force, and an effort; but in the spiritual 
world, that which acts, and that which reacts, are called life, 
and will. Life is there a living force, and will is a living effort ; 
and the equilibrium itself is called liberty or freedom. Spiritual 
equilibrium, therefore, or freedom, exists and subsists between 
good acting on one part, and evil reacting on the other ; or else, 
between evil acting on one part, and good reacting on the other. 
With the good, the equilibrium is between good as the agent 
and evil as the reagent ; but, with the evil, between evil as the 
agent and good as the reagent. The reason that spiritual equili- 
brium is that between good and evil, is, because the whole of 
man's life has reference to good and to evil, of which his will is 
the receptacle. There is also an equilibrium between truth and 
tills ity ; but this is dependent upon that between good and evil. 
The equilibrium between truth, and falsity is like that between 
light and shade, which operate upon the subjects of the vegetable 
kingdom in proportion as they have in them heat and cold : for 
that light and shade produce nothing of themselves, but that 
heat operates by them, is evident from the fact, that the light 
and shade in the season of winter, are similar to the light and 
shade in the season of spring. Comparison is made between 
truth and falsity and light and shade, on account of their cor re* 
342 



iiELL. 690, 591 

Bpondence ; for truth corresponds to light, falsity to shade, and 
heat to the good of love. Spiritual light, also, is truth, spiritual 
shade is falsity, and spiritual heat is the good of lo\'e. (On 
which subject, see the Section on Light and Heat in Heaven, 
nn. 126—140.) 

590. There is a perpetual equilibrium between heaven and 
hell. From hell there continually exhales and ascends the effort 
of doing evil; and from heaven there continually exhales and 
descends the effort of doing good. In that equilibrium exists 
the world of spirits, which is stationed in the midst between 
heaven and hell. (See above, nn. 421 — 431.) The reason that 
the world of spirits is placed in that equilibrium, is, because 
every man, after death, first enters the world of spirits, and is 
there kept in a state similar to that in which he was in the 
world ; which could not be accomplished, did not the most 
perfect equilibrium there prevail : for by means of this, all are 
explored as to their quality, being left there to their liberty, 
such as they enjoyed while in the world. Spiritual equilibrium, 
as existing with men and spirits, is freedom or liberty ; as stated 
just above. (IN". 589.) Of what description is every one's free- 
dom, is known to the angels in heaven by the communication of 
his affections and of the thoughts originating in them ; and is 
rendered apparent to the sight of angelic spirits by the ways in 
which the parties walk. Spirits that are good walk in the ways 
which tend towards heaven ; whereas spirits that are evil walk 
in the ways which tend towards hell. In that world, ways 
actually appear ; which is the reason that, in the Word, ways 
signify the truths which lead to good, and, in the opposite sense, 
the falsities which lead to evil. It is from this origin, also, that 
going, walking, and journeying, signify, in the Word, progres- 
sions of life.(') It has often been granted me to see those ways, 
and to observe spirits going and walking in them freely, accord- 
ing to their affections and the thoughts thence proceeding. 

591. The reason that evil continually exhales and ascends from 
hell, and good continually exhales and descends from heaven, is, 
because there is a spiritual sphere encompassing every one, 
and which issues and exudes from the life of his affections 
and consequent thoughts .(2) As such a sphere of his life issues 
from every individual, it follows, that such a sphere also issues 

(') That to jouruev, in the Word, signifies progression of life ; in like wanner, te 
go, nn. 3335, 4375, 4554, 4585, 4882, 5493, 5605, 5996, 8345, 8397, 8417, 8420, 8557. That 
to go, and to walk, with the Lor^, denotes to receive spiritual life, and to live with 
Him, n. 10,567. ^ That to walk denotes to live, nn. 519, 1794, 8417, 8420. 

(') That a spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of life, flows forth and issues from every 
man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses thein, nn. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630. That it flowa 
forth from the life of their affections and thoughts, nn. 2489, 4464, 6206. That spirits 
are known as to their quality, at a distance, from their spheres, nn. 1048, 1053, 1318, 
1504. That spheres from the evil are contrary to spheres from the good, nn. 1695, 
10,187, 10,312. That those spheres extend themselves far into angelic societies, ac- 
eording to the c[uality and quantity of good, nn. 6598—6613, 8063, 8794, 8797. And 
into infernal societies according to the quality and quantity of evil, nn. 8794, 8797. 

843 



591, 592 HELL. 

from every society of heaven, and from every society of hell ; 
and, consequently, from all those societies together ; that is, from 
the whole of heaven, and from the whole of hell. The reason 
that there is an influx from heaven of good, is, because all its 
inhabitants are grounded in good : and the reason that there is 
an influx from hell of evil, is, because all its inhabitants are 
immersed in evil. All the good which flows from heaven, pro- 
ceeds from the Lord ; for the angels who inhabit the heavens are 
all withheld from their own jpTOjpriumj and kept in the Lord's 
Proprium^ which is Good Itself: whereas the spirits that inhabit 
the hells are all immersed in their own proprium i and the pro- 
prium of every one is nothing but evil, and, as being nothing 
but evil, is hell.(^) From these facts it may be evident, that the 
e_quilibrium in which the angels in the heavens and the spirits in 
the hells are kept, is not like that which exists in the w^orld of 
spirits. The angels in the heavens find their equilibrium in the 
measure of good in which they had been willing to be grounded, 
or in which they had lived, while they were in the world ; and, 
consequently, in the degree in which they had held evil in aver- 
sion : whereas the spirits in hell find their equilibrium in the 
measure of evil in which it had been their will to be immersed, 
or in which they had lived, while in the world ; and thus, conse- 
quently, in the degree in which, in heart and spirit, they had 
been opposed to good. 

592. Unless the Lord governed both the heavens and the 
hells, no equilibrium could be preserved ; and if there were no 
equilibriiim, neither heaven nor hell could exist ; for all things 
in the universe, that is, both in the natural world and in the 
spiritual, maintain their stations by equilibrium. That such is 
the fact, every rational man can perceive : suppose a preponder- 
ance on one side, and no resistance on the other, would not both 
perish ? So would it be in the spiritual w^orld, if good did not 
react against evil, and perpetually restrain its insurrections ; and 
did not the Divine Being solely do this, heaven and hell would 
perish, and with them the whole human race. I use the ex- 
pression, " Did not the Divine Being solely do this," because the 
proprium of every one, whether angel, spirit, or man, is nothing 
but evil (see above, n. 591) ; on which account, no angels and 
spirits can possibly resist the evils that continually exhale from 
the hells, because, from their proprium^ they all tend towards 
hell themselves. From these facts it is evident, that unless the 
Lord alone governed both the heavens and the hells, there could 
not possibly be salvation for any one. Besides, all the hells act 
as one force, since evils are connected together in the hells as 
goods are in the heavens ; and to resist all the hells, which are 

(") That the proprium of man is nothinor but evil, nn. 210, 215, 731, 874, 875, 876, 987 
1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10,283, 10,284, 10,286, 10,782. That thfl. 
p7'opnum of man is hell appertaining to him, nn. 694, 8480. 

34 i 



HELL. 593^595 

ixiniimerable, and whicli act simultaneous! j against heaven, and 
afirainst all its inhabitants, is possible to nothing but that Divine 
Power alone, which solely proceeds from the Lord. 

593. The equilibrium between the heavens and the hells is 
diminished and increased, on the one side or on the other, ac- 
cording to the numbei' of new-comers who respectively enter into 
heaven and hell, who amount to many thousands a day. To 
know and perceive which Avay the balance inclines, and to regu- 
late and equalize it with perfect exactness, is not within the 
power of any angel, but of the Lord alone. For the Divine 
Sphere proceeding from the Lord is omnipresent, and every- 
where sees where any thing is in danger ; whereas an angel only 
sees what is near him, and cannot so much as perceive, within 
himself, what is passing in his own society. 

59i. How all things are arranged in the heavens and in the 
hells, so that all the inhabitants, both collectively and individually, 
should be maintained in their equilibrium, may in some measure 
appear from what has been advanced and shown above respecting 
the heavens and the hells : as, that all the societies of heaven are 
distinctly arranged, in the most perfect order, according to the 
varieties of good, and their genera and species ; and all the soci- 
eties of hell according to the varieties of evil, and their genera 
and species ; and that under every society of heaven there is a 
society of hell, corresponding to it in the way of opposition, from 
which opposite correspondence results an equilibrium between 
them ; on which account it is perpetually provided by the Lord, 
that the infernal society situated beneath a heavenly society 
should not become the stronger ; and, so far as it begins to do 
so, it is restrained by various means, and is reduced to the 
proper proportion required for the equilibrium. These means 
are various, of which only a few shall be mentioned. Some of 
them have reference to a stronger presence of the Lord ; some, 
to the stricter communication and conjunction of one or more so- 
cieties with others ; some, to the ejection of the supernumerary 
infernal spirits into the deserts ; some, to the transferring of some 
of them from one hell into another ; some, to the regulation ol 
the inhabitants of the hells, which is effected in various ways ; 
some, to the concealing of certain hells under denser and grosser 
coverings ; and also to the letting of them down to greater depths. 
Not to mention other means employed, including those w^hich are 
provided in the heavens which are over them. These facts are 
adduced, that it may in some measure be perceived, that the 
Lord alone provides, that there should be everywhere maintained 
an equilibrium between good and evil, and thus between heaven 
and hell, for on such equilibrium is founded the preservation ol 
all in heaven, and of all on earth. 

595. It is to be observed, that the hells continually assault 
heaven, and endeavor to destroy it ; and that the Lord contin- 

345 



595, 696 HELL. 

ually protects tlie heavens, withholding its inhabitants fi'om the 
evils which proceed from their proprium, and keeping them in 
the good which proceeds from Him. It has often been granted 
me to perceive the sphere which flows from the hells, which 
wholly consisted of a sphere of efforts to destroy the Divine 
Sphere proceeding from the Lord, and, consequently, heaven. 
I have also sometimes perceived the ebullitions of certain hells, 
which were efforts to emerge and to destroy. On the contrary, 
the heavens never assault the hells ; for the Divine Sphere pro- 
ceeding from the Lord is a perpetual effort to save all ; and as 
those who inhabit the hells cannot be saved, because they are 
immersed in evil and are in opposition to the Lord's Divine 
Operation, what is done with them is, that, as far as possible, 
their insurrections are quelled, and their fierce outrages are re- 
strained, that they may not exercise them on one another beyond 
the permitted bounds. This is effected accordingly, by innumer- 
able means, involving Divine Power. 

596. There are two kmgdoms into which the heavens are 
divided, called the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. 
(Respecting which, see above, nn. 20 — 28.) In the same man- 
ner, there are two kingdoms into which the hells are divided. 
One of these is opposite to the celestial kingdom, and the 
other is opposite to the spiritual kingdom. That which is 
opposite to the celestial kingdom is situated in the western 
quarter, and its inhabitants are called genii ; but that which is 
opposite to the spiritual kingdom is situated in the northern and 
southern quarters, and its inhabitants are called spirits. All 
who dwell in the celestial kingdom are grounded in love to the 
Lord ; and all who inhabit the hells opposite to that kingdom 
are immersed in the love of self: whereas all who dwell in the 
spiritual kingdom are grounded in love towards the neighbor ; 
and all who inhabit the hells opposite to that kingdom are im- 
mersed in the love of the world. It was made evident to me by 
this circumstance, that love to the Lord and the love of self are 
the opposites of each other ; and that it is the same with love 
towards the neighbor and the love of the world. It is inces- 
santly provided by the Lord, that no efflux should be directed 
from the hells opposite to the Lord's celestial kingdom towards 
the angels w^ho dwell in His spiritual kingdom ; for if this were 
to be permitted, the spiritual kingdom would perish. (The rea- 
son of which may be seen above, nn. 578, 5Y9.) These are the 
two general equilibriums, which are perpetually preserved from 
infringement by the Lord. 
346 



HELL. 597 



THAT MA.N IS IN THE ENJOYMENT OF FREEDOM THROUGH THE 
EQUILIBRIUM THAT IS MAINTAINED BETWEEN HEAVEN AND 
HELL. 

597. The equilibrium between heaven and hell has been treated 
of in the preceding Section ; and it has there been shown, that it 
is an equilibrium between the good which proceeds from heaven, 
and the evil which proceeds from hell ; and that, consequently, 
it is a spiritual equilibrium, which, in its essence, is freedom or 
liberty. The reason that spiritual equilibrium is, in its essence, 
freedom or liberty, is, because it is an equilibrium between good 
and evil^ and between truth and falsity, which are spiritual 
things : wherefore, the power of willing either good or evil, and 
of tliinking either truth or falsity, and of choosing the one in 
preference to the other, is the liberty of w^hich we are here treat- 
ing. This liberty is given to every man by the Lord, nor is it 
ever taken away from him. In its origin, indeed, it does not 

Extracts from the Abcana Ccelestia, on the Freedom or Liberty of Man, on Influx, and 
on the Spirits by whom Communications are effected. 

On Feeedom or Libeety. Tliat all freedom is attendant on love or affection, since 
what a man loves, this he does freely, nn. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9583—9591. As free- 
dom is attendant on love, that it is the life of every one, n. 2873. That nothing appears 
as a man's own, but what is from freedom, n. 2880. That there is heavenly freedom 
and infernal freedom, nn. 2870, 2873, 2874, 9589, 9590 

That heavenly freedom is attendant on heavenly love, or on the love of what is good 
and true, nn. 194:7, 2870, 2872. And as the love of good and of truth is from the Lord, 
that freedom essentially consists in being led of the Lord, nn. 892, 905, 2872, 2886, 
2S90, 2891, 2892, 9096, 9586, 9587, 9589, 9590, 9591. That man is introduced into heav- 
enly freedom by the Lord through regeneration, nn. 2874, 2875, 2882, 2892. That man, 
in order to be capable of being regenerated, ought to have freedom, nn. 1937, 1947, 
2876, 2881, 3145, 3146_, 3158, 4031, 8700. That otherwise the love of good and of truth 
cannot be implanted in man, and appropriated to him apparently as his own, nn. 2877, 
2879, 2880, 2S88. That nothing is conjoined to man in a state of compulsion, nn. 8700, 
2875. That if man could be reformed by compulsion, all would be saved, n. 2881. 
That compulsion, in reformation, is hurtful, n. 4031. That all worship from freedom is 
real Avorship, but not that which is from compulsion, nn. 1947. 2880, 7349, 10,097. 
That repentance ought to be done in a free state, and that what is done in a state of 
compulsion is of no avail, n. 8392. States of compulsion, what, n. 8392. 

That it is granted to man to act from freedom of reason, that good may be provided 
for him ; and that on this account man possesses the freedom of thinking and also of 
willing what is evil, and likewise of doing it, so far as the laws do not forbid, n. 10,777. 
That man is held by the Lord between heaven and hell, and thus in equilibrium, that 
he may be in possession of freedom, for the sake of his reformation, nn. 5982, 6477, 
8209, 8907. That what is inseminated in freedom remains, but not what is inseminated 
in compulsion, n. 9588. That on this account, freedom is never taken away from any 
one, nn. 2S76, 2881. That no one is compelled by the Lord, nn. 1937, 1947. 

That a man may compel himself from a principle of freedom, but cannot be com- 
pelled, nn. 1937, 1947. That a man ought to compel himself to resist evil, nn. 1937. 
1947, 7914. And likewise to do good as from himself, still acknowledging that it is? 
from tiie Lord, nn. 2883, 2891, 2892, 7914. That man has a stronger freedom in temp- 
tation-combats in which he conquers, since he then forces himself more interiorly to 
resist; although it appears otherwise, nn. 1937, 1947, 2881. 

That infernal freedom consists in being led by the loves of self and of the world, and 
their concupiscences, nn. 2870, 2873. That the inhabitants of hell know no other free- 
dom, n. 2871. That heavenly freedom is as distant from infernal freedom, as heaven 
is from hell, nn. 2873, 2874. That infernal freedom, which consists in bein^ led by the 
loves of self and of the world, is not freedom, but slavery, nn. 2884, 2890; since slavbry 
consists in being led of hell, nn. 9586, 9589, 9590, 9591. 

847 



597, 598 HELL. 

belong to man, but to the Lord, it being from the Lord ; but, 
nevertlieless, it is given to man, together with life, as his own : 
and it is given him to this end, — that he may be capable of be- 
ing reformed and saved ; for without liberty or freedom there can 
be no reformation and salvation. Every one who takes any 
rational view of things may see, that man is at liberty to think 
either ill or well, sincerely or insincerely, justly or unjustly ; and 
also, that he is at liberty to speak and to act well, sincerely, and 
justly, but is withheld from speaking and acting ill, insincerely, 
and unjustly, by spiritual, moral, and civil laws, by which his 
external is kept in bonds. From these facts it is evident, that 
the spirit of man, which is that which thinks and wills, is in the 
enjoyment of liberty ; but that his external, which is what speaks 
and acts, is not, except in conformity with the above-mentioned 
laws. 

598. The reason that man would not be capable of being 
reformed, unless he were in the enjoyment of liberty, is, be- 
cause he is born into evils of all kinds. These must be re- 
moved, in order that he may be saved: and they cannot be 
removed, unless he sees them in himself, and acknowledges 
them ; and afterwards ceases to will them, and at length holds 
them in aversion. It is then that they are first removed. This 

On Influx. That all things which man thinks, and which he wills, enter by influx ; 
from experience, nn. 904, 2886, 2887, 2888, 4151, 4319, 4320, 5846, 5848, 6189, 6191, 6194, 
6197, 6198, 6199, 6213, 7147, 10,219. That man's capacity of viewing things, of think- 
ing, and of forming analytical conclusions, is from influx, nn. 1285, 4319, 4820. That 
man could not live a single moment, if influx from the spiritual world were taken away 
from him ; from experience, nn. 2888, 5849, 5854, 6321. That the life which flows in 
from the Lord varies according to the state of man, and according to reception, nn. 2069, 
5986, 6472, 7343. That with the evil, the good which flows-in from the Lord is turned 
into evil, and truth into what is false, from experience, nn. 3642, 4632. That the good 
and truth, which continually flow-in from theXord, are so far received, as they are not 
opposed by what is evil and false, nn. 2411, 3142, 3147, 5828. 

That all good flows-in from tlie Lord, and all evil from hell, nn. 904, 4151. That 
man believes at this day that all things are in himself, and are from himself, when yet 
the^ enter by influx, and he may know this from the doctrinal tenet of the church, 
which teaches that all good is from God, and all evil from the devil, nn. 4249, 6193, 
6206. But if man believed according to the doctrinal tenet, he would not then appro- 
priate evil to himself, nor would he make good his own, nn. 6206, 6324, 6325. How 
nappy the state of man would be, if he believed that all good flows into him from the 
Lord, and all evil from hell, n. 6325. That those who deny heaven, or know nothing 
about it, are ignorant that there is any influx from thence, nn. 4322, 5649, 6193, 6479. 
What influx is, illustrated by comparisons, nn. 6467, 6480, 9407. 

That the all of life flows-in from the first Fountain of Life, because it is from that 
Source, and that it flows-in continuallv, thus from the Lord, nn. 3001, 3318, 3837, 3338, 
8344, 3484, 3619, 3741, 3742, 3748, 4318, 4319, 4320, 4417, 4524, 4882, 5847, 5986, 6325, 
6468,_ 6469, 6470, 6479, 9276, 10,196. That influx is spiritual, and not physical, thus 

at influx takes place from the spiritual world into the ratural, and not from the nat- 
ural into the spiritual, nn. 8219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9110, 9111. That 
influx takes place through the internal man into the extenal, or through the spirit into 
the body, and not contrariwise, because the spirit of man is in the spiritual world, and 
the body in the natural, nn. 1702, 1707, 1940, 1954, 5119, 5259, 5779, 6822, 9110. That 
the internal man is in the spiritual world, and the external in the natural world, nn. 
978, 1015, 3679, (4459,) (4523,) (4524,) 6057, 6309, 9701—9709, 10,156, 10,472. That it 
appears as if influx touk place from the externals appertaining to man into the internals, 
but that it is a fallacy, n. 3721. That with man tliere is influx into the things of hia 
rational faculty, and through these into scientifics, and not contrariwise, nn. 1495, 1707, 
1940. What 'is the nature of the order of influx, nn. 775, 880, 1096, 1498, 7270. That 
348 



HELL. 598, 599 

conld not be accomplished, unless man possessed in liimself 
good as well as evil ; for he is capable, from good, of seeing evils, 
but not, from evil, of seeing goods. The spiritual goods which 
man is capable of making objects of his thoughts, he learns, 
from his infancy, by reading the Word and hearing sermons ; 
and he learns moral and civil goods by living in the world. 
This is the first reason why man ought to be in the enjoyment 
of liberty. Another is, that nothing is appropriated to man, 
but what he does from an affection that is proper to his love : 
other things may indeed enter his mind, but no further than 
into his thought : nothing else enters into his will : and what 
does not enter into the will, also, does not become his own : 
for the thought draws its materials from the memory, but the 
will from the life itself J^othing that man ever does or thinks 
is free, but what proceeds from his will, or, what is the same 
thing, from an affection belonging to his love. Whatever a 
man wills or loves, he does freely; in consequence of which, 
a man's liberty, and the affection which is that of his love or 
of his will, are one : on which account, therefore, man must be 
in the enjoyment of freedom, in order that he may be capable 
of being affected by truth and good, or of loving them, and that 
they may become, in consequence, as if they were his own. In 
one word, whatever does not gain admission to man in a state of 
freedom, does not remain in him, because it is not an object of 
his love or of his will : and whatever is not an object of a man's 
love or will does not belong to his spirit: for the esse of the 
spirit of man is his love or will. We use the terms, " his love 
or will," because what a man loves, he also wills. These then 
are the reasons that a man cannot be reformed, except he be in 
a state of liberty. (Further particulars respecting man's liberty 
or freedom may be seen in the Arcana Codestia^ in the places 
referred to in the extracts inserted above, p. SIT.) 

599. In order that man may be in a state of liberty, as neces- 
sary to his being reformed, he is connected, as to his spirit, with 
heaven and with hell : for spirits from hell, and angels from 
heaven, are attendant on every man. By the spirits from hell, 
man is held in his evil ; but by the angels from heaven, he is 
held in good by the Lord. Thus he is preserved in spiritual 
equilibrium, that is, in freedom or liberty. (That angels from 

mere is immediate inilax from the Lord, and likewise mediate through the spiritual 
world or heaven, nn 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That the Lord's influx flows into 
tlie good appertaining to man, and through the good into the truth, but not contrari- 
wise, nn. 5482, (5649J 6027, 8685, 8701, 10,153. That good gives the faculty of receiv- 
ing ii flux from the Lord, but not truth without good, n. 8321. That nothing is injuri- 
ous which flows into the thought, but what flows into the will, since the latter is 
appropriated to man, n. 6308. 

That there is a general or common influx, n. 5850. That it is a continual efibrt to 
act according to order, n. 6211. That this influx flows into the lives of animals, n. 5850. 
And likewise into the subjects nf the vegetable kingdom, n. 3648, That, also, accord- 
ing to the genorni ^r Cv^uuuon influx, thought falls into speech, and will into actions and 
gestures, with man, n. 5862, 5990, 6192, 6211. 

349 



600—602 HELL. 

heaven, and spirits from hell, are adjoined to every man, may 
be seen in the Section on the Conjunction of Heaven with the 
Human Race, nn. 291 — 302.) 

600. It is to be observed, that the conjunction of man with 
heaven, and with hell, is not, immediately, with heaven and hell 
themselves, but mediately, through spirits inhabiting the world 
of spirits. It is these spirits who are adjoined to man, and not 
any from hell or from heaven themselves. Through evil spirits, 
abiding in the world of spirits, man has conjunction with hell ; 
and through good spirits, abiding there also, he has conjunction 
with heaven. It is on this account, that the world of spirits 
has its station in the intermediate region between heaven and 
hell : and is the seat of the actual equilibrium between them 
(That the world of spirits is intermediate between heaven and 
hell, may be seen in the Section on the World of Spirits, nn. 
421 — 431 ; and that that world is the seat of the actual equilib- 
rium between heaven and hell, in the Section immediately 
above, nn. 589 — 596.) From these facts it is evident, whence it 
is that man is in the enjoyment of freedom or liberty. 

601. Something further shall be stated respecting the spirits 
that are adjoined to man. An entire society may have com- 
munication with another society, or with any individual, be he 
where he may, by the mission of an emissary spirit. The spirit 
thus commissioned is denominated " a subject of many." It is 
the same with the conjunction of a man with societies in heaven, 
and with societies in hell, by spirits adjoined to him belonging 
to the world of spirits. (Respecting these '^ subjects," see, also, 
the Arcana Coelestia^ in the places referred to below.) 

602. In the last place, something shall be mentioned respect- 
ing that inherent conviction, which man possesses, respecting 
his life after death, as a result of the influx which he receives 
from heaven. There were certain spirits belonging to the sim- 
ple populace, who had lived, in the world, in the good of faith, 
who were brought into a state similar to that in which they had 
been when in the w^orld. This can be effected with any one, 
when the Lord gives permission. It was then shown what idea 
they had entertained respecting the state of man after death. 
They said, that certain persons of intelligence had asked them 
in the world, what they thought respecting their soul after their 
life in the world ; to which they replied, that they did not know 
what the soul is. Upon this the intelligent persons asked them, 
what their belief was respecting their state after death ; to which 
they answered that they believed that they should live as spirits. 

On SiTBjECTS. That spirits sent forth from societies of spirits to otlier societies, also 
to other spirits, are called subjects, nn. 4403, 5856. That coaiinunieatioiis in the othei 
life are eftected by such emissary spirits, nn. 4403, 5856, 5983. That a spirit, who, 
being sent forth, serves for a subject, docs not think from himself, but from tliose by 
whom he is sent forth, nn. 5985, 5986, 5987. Several particulars concerning those 
spirits, nn. 5988, 5989. 

350 



HELL. 602, 603 

The interrogators then inquired, what faith they entertained 
respecting a spirit ; when they said, that it is a man. Upon 
being asked how thev knew this ; they replied, that they knew 
it, because it was so. Upon which those intelligent persons 
wondered that such faith should be possessed by the simple, and 
not by them. It was thence made evident, that every man who 
is in conjunction with heaven, has an inherent conviction that 
he is to live after death. This inherent conviction comes irom 
no other origin than an influx from heaven, that is, through 
heaven from the Lord, conveyed through the medium of the 
spirits who are adjoined to man from the world of spirits. It 
is enjoyed by those who have not extinguished their freedom of 
thinking, by principles previously assumed, and confirmed in 
various ways, respecting the soul of man ; such as affirm it to 
be either pure thought, or some animated principle, the seat of 
which they seek for in the body : when, nevertheless, the truth 
is, that the soul is nothing but the life of man, but the spirit is 
the man himself, and the terrestrial body, which he carries 
about in the world, is only an instrument, by means of which 
the spirit, which is the man himself, acts in the natural world, 
•n a manner suited to the nature of that world. 

603. The particulars which have been delivered in this work 
respecting heaven, the world of spirits, and hell, will appear 
obscure to those who take no pleasure in acquiring a knowledge 
of spiritual truths ; but they will appear clear to those who take 
pleasure in that acquirement ; and especially to those, who 
cherish an affection of truth for its own sake, — that is, who love 
truth because it is truth. For every thing that is loved enters 
with light into the ideas of the mind : an 1 this is eminently the 
case, when that which is loved is truth : for all truth dwells m 
light. 

351 



INDEX TO THE PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE CITED IN 
THE FOREGOING WORK. 



Chap. 

i. 

ii. 

ii 

iil 



xnz. 



GENESIS. 

Yeksis. 
3,4 
24 
25 
7, 10, 11 



EXODUS. 
18, 25, 41 



NmL 
187 
372 
341 
341 



287 





LEVITICUS. 




l 

u. 
vi. 
xxiii. 


9, 13, 17 
2,9 
8, 14 
12, 13, 18 

NUMBERS. 


287 
287 
287 
287 


vi. 

XV, 

xxvilL 
xxix 


26 

3, 7, 13 
6, 8, 13 
2, 6, 8, 13, 36 


287 

287 
287 
287 



DEUTERONOMY. 

ir. 19 122 

xviii. 3, 4, 6 122 



JUDGES, 
xvii & xviii. 324 

2d SAMUEL. 
xziv. 16, 16, 17 229 



352 



Chap. 

vL 



vm. 
is. 
ix. 
ix. 

X. 

xiii. 
xiv. 
xix. 
xxix. 

XXX. 
XXX. 

xxxii. 

xxxiii. 

xxxiii 

xxxiv 

xli. 

xlil 

xlv. 

xlix. 

Iil 

lii. 

Uv. 

liv 

Iviii. 

lix. 



2d KINGS. 

YEBSEa. 

17 





PSALMa 


xxxi. 


9 


xxxvi. 


6,7 


xxxvii 


37 


xL 


13 


xliil' 


8 


ciii. 


20 


civ. 


2 


cxviiL 


6 



ISAIAR 

8 

7 

5,6 

17, 18 

12, 13, 14 

10 

30 

23, 24, 26 

19 

26 

6,7 

17,18 

6 

7.8 

9,10 

17,18 

6 

3 

6 

1 

•7 

13 

10 

2 

8 



78 



197 
216 
287 
365 
129 
229 
129 
197 



197 

216 
287 
570 
365 
119 
365 
307 
365 
119 
365 
287 
216 
287 
570 
365 
129 
365 
129 
180 
287 
26 
287 
216 
287 



INDEX. 





JEREMIAH. 




Chap. 


YEBSSaL 


Nmc 


fiii. 


1,2 


122 


xvi. 


5 


287 


xvii. 


S 


365 


xxiii. 


6 


216 


XXV. 


87 


287 


XXV. 


14 


471 


xxix. 


11 


287 


xxxi. 


88,34 


25, 271 


xxxiL 


19 


471 


xlvii. 


7 


865 


1. 


87 


865 


ii. 


13 


365 



EZEKIEL. 



il 


9, 10 


258 


viil 


15, 16, 18 


122 


xvi. 


10, 13 


180 


xxvi. 


7, 12 


865 


xxvii. 


1 to end 


865 


xxxii. 


1,8 


119 


xl — xlviu. 


DANIEL. 


171, 197 


V. 


2,3,4 


365 


vii. — ^xil 




171 


zii. 


8 


846 



HOSEA. 



ii. 


19 


iy. 


9 


xil 


9 



JOEL. 



11. 
iL 
ifi. 



216 
471 
865 



liL 



2, 10, 21 

30,31 

15 


119 
570 
119 


HABAKKUK. 




6 


197 


ZEPHANUH. 




12,18 


865 





HAGGAL 




Chap. 


VEE8B8. 


NUK 


ii. 


9 

ZECHARIAH. 


287 


i. 


6 


471 


viiL 


12 


287 


ix. 


8,4 
MALACHL 


365 


ir. 


1 
MATTHEW 


670 


iil 


10 


570 


iv. 


16 


129 


V. 


18 


260 


vl 


33 


64 


vi. 


24,25 


281 


vil 


24,26 


471 


viL 


22,23 


471 


vit 


13,14 


534 


viii 


41, 42, 50 


570 


viil 


12 


575 


X. 


16 


278 


xi 


27 


6 


XL 


25,26 


353 


xl 


. 29, 30 


359 


xi. 


6 


365 


xi. 


30 


633 


xil 


8 


287 


xiL 


86 


607 


xiii. 


43 


848 


xiil 


12 


849 


xiii. 


13, 14, 15 


353 


xiii. 


6 


122 


xiii. 


42,50 


575 


xvi. 


27 


471 


xvii. 


2 119, 


129, 180 


xviii. 


8,9 


670 


xix. 


24 


365 


xix. 


4, 5, 6, 11 


872 


XX. 


27,28 


218 


xxii. 


37, 38, 39, 40 


19 


xxil 


11, 12, 13 


48 


xxii. 


13 


675 


xxil 


12, 13 


180 


xxiil 


27 


605 


xxiv. 


29, 80, 31 


1 


xxiv. 


?9 


119 


xxiv. 


17, IR 


208 


xxiv. 


61 


675 


XXV. 


29 


84» 


XXV. 


32—46 


471 


XXV. 

zzr. 


80 
41 


575 
579 



353 



INDEX. 



MATTHEW {continued). 



Chap. 

xxviii. 
xxviiL 



ui. 
vi. 
vi. 
vi. 
ix. 

X, 

xii. 

xii. 

xiii. 

xiii. 

xiil 

xiv. 

xiv. 

xvi 

xvi. 

xvi. 

xvii. 

xvii. 

xviii 

XX. 

xxi. , 
xxii. 
xxiv. 
xxiv. 



1. 
L 
I 
U. 

iii. 
iil 

V. 

▼t 



Vebsks. 
16 
3 



MARK. 



LUKE. 



JOHN. 



NlTM. 

5 

180 



ii. 


27,28 


287 


ix. 


3 


129, 180 


IX. 


43—49 


570 


z. 


14 


281 


X. 


6, 7, 8, 9 


372 


xvi. 


6 


180 



9 




670 


6 




■ 287 


38 




349 


20, 21 




357, 365 


29 




180 


5,6 




287 


16, 24 




265 


2,3 




462, 507 


29,30 




324 


25, 26, 


27 


471 


28 




575 


33 




365 


21 




365 


19,31 




365 


29, 30, 


31. 


456 


24 




570 


20, 21 




33 


31, 32 




208 


16,17 




281 


17, 18 




534 


35, 38 




382 


26 




218 


4 




180 


36, 37, 


88 


316 



18 


84 


4.9 


129 


1, 3, 4, 10, 14 


137 


19,21 


187 


86 


5 


19 


129 


87 


84 


46,46 


25 


(i6 


i4/ 



854 



Chap. 

viii. 

viii. 

ix 

z. 

zi. 

xii. 

xii. 

xiv. 

xiv. 

xiv. 

xiv. 

xiv, 

XV. 
XV. 
XV. 
XV. 

XVL 

xvi. 
xvL 
xvii. 

XX. 
XX. 
XX. 



u. 
iii. 
iil 

iv. 

V. 

vi. 
ix. 
ix. 

xiv. 
xiv. 
xiv. 
xvi. 

XVL 

xvi. 

xviii 

xix. 

xix. 

xix. 

XX. 
XX. 

xxi. 
xxi. 
xxi. 
xxi. 
xxi. 
xxi. 
xxii. 



JOHN {continued). 

Yekses. "Svm. 

56 84 

12 129 

15 129 

30, 38 2 

24, 25 5 
35, 36, 40 129 
40 456 
10, 11 2 
6 5 
21, 23 16 
2 51 
27 287 
4,7 11 

10, 12 16 
4—10 81 
4 147 
13, 14, 15 2 
15 5 
33 287 
2 5 

11, 13 180 
19,21,26 287 

25, 27, 29 461 



APOCALYPSE. 



23 


471 


4,5 


180 


17,18 


865 


4 


180 


1 


258 


12 


119 


2 


570 


17,18 


570 


4 


368 


13 


471 


9,10 


670 


8 


122 


15 


180 


8,9 


670 


2, 18 


570 


11, 13 


180 


2 


670 


20 


570 


13, 15 


471 


14, 15 


570 


17 


73 


24 


129 




187 


16 


197 


1, 2, 16, 17, 18 


80? 


8 


670 


18 


471 



INDEX 



TO 



HE^VEisr j^lNd hell. 



The Figures refer to the numbers of the paragraphs. 



Abraham. — In the "Word, Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, denote the Lord as to 
His Divine, and His Divine Human, 526. 

AcTiox AND Eeactiox. — In the natural 
world, that which acts, and that which re- 
acts, are called force, and also endeavor or 
effort : but in the spirital world that which 
acts and that which reacts are called life 
and will. Life in that world is a living 
force, and will is a living effort, 589. 

AcTiviTr. — Moral and civil life is the ac- 
tivity of spiritual life, 529. 

Administrations. — There are in heaven, 
as on earth, various administrations, ec- 
clesiastical, civil, and domestic, 3SS. 

Adultekiks. — In the Word, adulteries 
signify the adulterations of good and truth, 
384, 3S5. Heaven is closed against adul- 
terers : they are unmerciful, and without a 
religious principle, 3S4. 

Adults. — The difference between those 
who die infants and those who die Adults. 
345. 

Affection is the continuoits principle of 
love, 447, note. Thought, together with 
affection, constitute the man, 445. The 
genuine affection of truth is the affection of 
truth for its own sake, 347. Affection is 
spiritual, and corporeal, 468. Affection of 
use, 517. Affections are various with 
every one, 236. See Thovght. 

Affinities. — All relationships and affini- 
ties, in iieaven, are from good, and accord- 
ing to its agreements and ditferences, 46, 
note. 

Africans. — In heaven the Gentiles are 
more numerous than all the rest, the best 
of them are from Africa, 514, 826. 

Age. — Concerning the four Ages of gold, 
silver, copper, and iron, 115. 

Ancient, the most, 87, 115, 252, 260, 263, 
806, 3-i3. 

Ancients, the, 87, 115, 119, 249, 323, 415. 
Elevation and abstraction from sensual 
principles was known to the Ancients, 74, 
note. They frequently conversed with 
spirits and angels, 249, note. 

And. — Why this particle so often occurs 
in the Word, 241. 

Angels, 7-12, 17. Celestial angels, 21, 
25, 31, 188, 214, 270, 271. Spiritual, 21, 

355 



25, 31, 214, 241, 270. Difference between 
celestial and spiritual angels, 25. Spiritual- 
natural, and celestial-natural, antrels, 31. 
Angels of light, wherefore so called, 128. 
Why they are called gods and powers, 137; 
note. Internal and external angels, 32. 
Intermediate, 27, 55. Interior, 22. 23, 80. 
Exterior, 22. Superior, 22, 23, 267. In- 
ferior, 22, note^ 80, 267, 270, How nngels 
speak with men, 168, 246, and following. 
Angels with infants, children, and men, 
3yi. Perfected to eternity, 158, note. The 
angels think without an idea of time and 
space, 165, note. Admitted into natural 
thoughts, 168. Ascent of angels into a su- 
perior heaven, and descent into an inferior 
heaven, 35. They turn themselves to man, 
246. Angels employed to examine tlie 
spirits of men after death, 462,* 463. 
Seated near the head of those who die. 449. 
Represented in churches, sculptured or 
painted, 74. How angels see the Lord, 
and how the Lord sees them, 145. The 
most perfect angels, 133, 1 89. Their power, 
228-233. Thev have cities, palaces, houses, 
184, 185. Their employments, 387-393. 
Their tljoughts and affections, 266. Their 
offices towards men who come into the 
other life, 391, note. Their beauty, 80. 
Their interiors and exteriors, 173. There 
is not a single angel who was originally 
created such, all are from the human /ace, 
311. Every angel is heaven in its least 
form, 51-58. Every angel is in a p(*,rfect 
human form, 73-77. By angels, in the 
Word, is meant something of the Loi^d, or 
sometliing Divine from the Lord, 8, 391. 
The Lord, in the Word, is called an angel, 
52. An entire angelic society is so cf^lled, 
52. A man who receives the good of love 
and faith from the Lord is called an angel, 
314. See Chauges of State, Habitations, 
Houses, Speech^ Wisdom, Innocence, Gar- 
ments. 

Anger. — Why, in the Word, anger is 
attributed to the Lord, 545, rtote. 

Animals. — Difference between man and 
brute animals, 39, 108, 202, 296, 352, 435. 
Animal kingdom, 104, 108, HO. Influx of 
the spiritual world into the lives of animal,*, 
110, note, 296, 667. Animals correspond t? 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



affections, tame and useful animals to good 
affections, siiva.cre and useless animals to 
evil affections, 110. • 

Anxiety. — Whence anxiety originates 
•with man, 299. 

Apostles, the twelve, represented the 
Lord as to all things of the Church, 526, 
note. 

Appeakances, concerning, in heaven, 
170-176. Kejii appearances, 175. Appear- 
ances which are not real, 175. 

Appearances oe the Divine. — The Di- 
vine lias always appeared under the Hu- 
man Form, 84. Under this Form the An- 
cients saw Him, 82, 84, 87. 

Apprehension is internal hearing, 484. 

Appkoximatjons in the spiritual world 
are similitudes of the states of the interiors, 
193, 195. 

Arcana, concerning the good and truth 
which proceed from the Lord, 460. Con- 
cerning the body of every spirit and angel, 
363. 

Architecture, beauty of the, in lieaven ; 
the architectural art is itself from heaven, 
185. 

Arm, the, signifies power, 231. 

Arms signify the power of trutli, 96, note, 
97, 231. Naked arm, 231. In the Grand 
Man, they who are in the province of the 
anus are in the power of truth from good, 
96. 

Articulations of Sound. — See Sound of 
Speech. 

Arts, direful, of infernal spirits, 576-581. 

Ashur or Assyria, signifies the rational 
principle, 307. 

Atmosphere. — The angels have an at- 
mosphere in which the sound of their 
t^peech is articulated, and in which they 
hresitlie, but it is a spiritual atmosphere, 
235, 4(1 2. 

Autumn corresponds to wisdom in its 
shade, 166, 155, 

Avarice, which is the love of riches 
without regard to use, corresponds to filth, 
363. 

Baptism signifies regeneration from the 
Lord by the truths of faith derived from 
the Word, 329, note. Baptism is a sign 
that man is to be regenerated, 329. Bap- 
tism confers neither faith nor salvation, 
329, 7wte. 

Beasts signifv affections, 110. Beasts 
are in the order of their life, 296. The 
spiritual principle of beasts is not the same 
quality as the spiritual principle of man, 
4:35. See Aidm.alH. 

Beauty of the body does not imply 
beauty of the spirit, 99, 131, 459. 

Bed-chambkrs. — See Inner Hooms. 

Bees. — Wonderful labors of the bees. 
lOS. 

Belief in tlie Divine Being. Man be- 
lieves in the Divine Being when he is will- 
ing to be led by Him, 351. 

Bklts, radiant, around the sun of heaven, 
120. Dusky belt round the sun of heaven, 
159. 

356 



Birth, spiritual, is effected by knowl- 
edges of good and truth, and by intelli- 
gence and wisdom, by virtue of which 
man is man, 345. 

Blessedness, angelic, consists in the 
goods of charity, thus in performing uses, 
387, note. 

Blessings, real, and blessings not real, 
364, note. 

Blind, the, in the Word, signifies those 
who are in falses, and are not willing to 
be instructed, 487, note. 

Blood of the Lord, the, signifies divine 
truth and the holy principle of faith, 147, 
note. 

Body. — Tt is from the spirit of man that 
the body lives, 76, note. The whole body 
has been formed for obedience to good 
and truth, 137. Whatever is felt and per- 
ceived in the body derives its origin from 
man's spiritual principle, that is to say, 
from his nnderstanding and will, 373 ; but 
it is from the exterior or natural world 
that the body receives its first sensations 
and first motions, 381. AVhen man dies 
he only leaves behind his terrestrial body, 
and nothing more, 461. To be withdrawn 
from the body, 439, 440. To be in the 
body of the Lord, 81. 

Book of Life, man's. By this book, 
which is spoken of in the Word, is signified 
that all his actions and all his thoughts are 
inscribed on the whole msin, and appear, 
when called forth from the memory, as 
though they were read from a book, and 
as tliough seen in effigy when the spirit is 
viewed in the sight of heaven, 463, 236. 
In the spiritual world there are books 
similar to those in the world, 463, 462.* 
See Memory. 

Born again, to be. Man must be re- 
born — that is, resrenerated, 342. 

Brain, the. Every particular of man's 
thought and will are inscribed on the brain, 
4GS. 

Bread signifies all the good which nour- 
ishes the spiritual life of man. 111. The 
bread T.iiich was on tlie table in tiie Tab- 
ernacle, had a like signification. 111, note. 
Bread involves all food, and thus it signi- 
fies all food, celestial and spiritual, ill, 
340. 

Breadth, by, is understood a state of 
truth, ly7, 198, note. 

Breast, the, signifies charity, 97. In 
the Grand Man, they who are in the prov- 
ince of the breast are in the good of char- 
ity and faith, and flow into the breast of 
man, to which they correspond, 96. 

Bride and Bridegroom. — In tlie Word. , 
the Lord is called the Bridegroom, ana i 
the Church the liride, 180. 

Bright, that v/hich is, corresponds to 
truth, and in the Word signifies trutli, 
179. 

Bullock, signifies the affections of the 
natural mind, 110. 

Camkl, a, signifies the principle of knowl- 
edge and science in jieneral, 365. 

Care for the morrow, what it is, 278. 



I 



INDEX. 



CAnRiED, to be. "What it is to be carried 
>y tlie spirit to auotlier place, 441, 192, 439. 

Caterpillars. — Marvellous traiisfunnu- 
tioii of caterpillars, 108. 

Cedar, the. 111. A. C. 886. 

Centre. — The Lord is the common cen- 
tre, towards which all tlie augcls turn them- 
selves, 124, 142. 

Cerebellum, the. — That part of the head 
which covers the cerebelluni corresponds to 
wisdom, 251. 

Cerebrum, the. — That part of the hea4 
which covers the cerebrum corresponds to 
intelliirence, 2ol. 

Changes of place in the spiritual world 
are notiiing: but changes of state, 192, 195. 

('hanges of Slate, concerning, with the 
angels in heaven. 154-161. In tiic spiritual 
world, changes of place are changes of the 
state of life, 192, note. 

Charity is every thing which relates to 
life, it consists in willing and doing what 
is just and right in every work, 364. A 
life of charity is a" life according to the 
Lord's commandments, 535. Genuine char- 
ity is not meritorious, 535. Charity tmv- 
ard^ the neighf/or e^cLend^ itself to the mi- 
nutest tilings 71'hi-ch a mua tki/iks, wills^ and 
does, 217, 431, 535, note ; it consists in do- 
ing wliat is good, just, and right, in every 
act and iu every employment, 360, 535, 
notfi. 

Chinese, 325. — See Gentiles. 

Christ. — Tlie Lord was thus named in 
the world, from the Divine Spiritual, 24. 
See Jesus. 

Chuuch, tlie Ancient, is that which ex- 
isted after the flood and extended through 
many kiujrdouis, 327. In the ancient church 
they had a Word, hut it is lo>t, 327, note. 
Doctrine in the ancient church was the 
doctrine of charity, 481, note^ 558. 

Chuuch, the, is the Lord's heaven upon 
earth, 57. The church is within man, and 
not out of liim, 57. The church at large 
consists of men in whom the churcli is, 57, 
note. The church of the Lord is universal, 
and includes all who acknowledge a Divine 
Being and live in charity, 308. It is spread 
over the whole globe, 328. The universal 
church on earth is before the Lord as one 
man, 305, note. The church specitically 
exists where the Word is, and where the 
Lord is known by the Word, 308, note, 318. 
Still they who are born where the Word is, 
and where the Lord is known, are not 
members of the church on that account, 
but tliey who live a life of charity and 
faith, 318. Unless there was a church on 
tiie earth where the Word is, and where 
the Lord is known by the Word, the hu- 
man race Jiere would perish, 305, note. If 
good we-«. the characteristic and e>sential 
of the church, and not truth without good, 
tiie church would be a one, 57, note. All 
churches make one church before the Lord 
by virtue of good, 57, note. 

Church, the most ancient, on earth is 
described in the first chapter of Genesis, 
and was, above all others, celestial, 327, note. 

357 



Cicero. — Conversation between Sweden- 
borg and Cicero, 322. 

Cities. — The habitations of the angels 
are contiguous, and arranged in the form 
of a city, 184. 

Cleft of the rock, the, signifies an ob- 
scure and false principle of faith, 488, 
note. 

Climates. — With the angels, the differ- 
ences in the changes of state are, in a gen- 
eral point of view, like the variations ot 
the state of the day in different climates 
on the earth, 157. 

Clou OS, in the Word, signify the Word 
in the letter, or the sense of its letter, 1, 
note. 

Cohabitation. — Tn heaven, tlie conjunc- 
tion of two into one mind, is called coiiab- 
itation, 367, note. 

Colors in heaven are variegations "of 
light, 179, note. They signify various 
things which relate to intelligence and wis- 
dom^ 179, 7iote, 356. So far as they partake 
of redness, colors signify good, and so far 
as they partake of white, they signify 
truth, 179, note. 

Coming of the Lord, the, is His Pres- 
ence in the Word, and revelation thence, 1^ 

Communication. — In Jieaven there is a 
communication of all goods, 49, 199, 200- 
212, 2'oS ; and of the thoughts of all, 2. 
Theve i3 a communication of all with ea<'-h, 
and of each wilh idl, 399. Communication 
with othens in the spiritual world depends 
upon the aspect of the face, 552. There is 
an inmo?;t communication of the spirit, in 
the respiration and the motion of the 
heart, 446. 

Communion. — Heaven is a communion of 
all goods, 268, 73, 

Compulsion. — Nothing is conjoined to 
man which is of compulsion, 293, note. 
What is of compulsion in refurmation is 
hurtful, 293, note. 

Conceptions signify spiritual concen- 
tions, which are those of good and truth, 
382,* note. 

Concupiscences all flow from the love of 
self and the love of the world, 396. 

CoNFiiiMED, to be. — Whatever is con- 
firmed puts on the appearance of truth, 
and there is nothing which cannot be con 
firmed, 352. 

Conjoined, to be. — That which is capable 
of being conjoined to the Divine cannot be 
dissipated, 435. 

(Conjunction of heaven with the human 

race, 291-302. Conjunction of heaven with 

man by the Word,' 30J-310, 205, 208, 254, 

319, 423, 424. Conjunction of heaven witli 

the world by correspondences, 112. Con- 

i junction of angels and spirits with man, 

; 255, 246, 247, 369. Conjunction of theun- 

j derstaiiding and the will, 423. Actual con- 

! junction of the husband and wife into one, 

I 369. The conjunction of good and truth 

is heaven, and the conjunction of evil and 

the false is hell, 425. 

I Connection, there is a, of all things by 
[ intermediates with the First, and whatevei 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



is not in that connection is dissolved, 803, 
802, 305, 9. 

Conscience. — They have conscience who 
are in love to God and charity towards 
the neisrlibor, but they who are not so 
principled have no conscience. They who 
have no conscience do not know what con- 
science is. There is a true conscience, a 
spurious conscience, a false conscience, 299, 
note. 

Consociations, 200-212, 36, 64, 479. All 
m heaven are consociated according to spir- 
itual affinities, 205. The Lord arranges 
angelic consociations, and not the angels 
themselves, 45. Man has consociation with 
angels, and conjunction with the Lord, 
304. 

Consonants. — The speech of the celestial 
angels contains no hard consonants, 241. 
In tiie inferior heavens the angels express 
the ideas of thought derived from affec- 
tions by consonants, 261. See Vowels. 

Consummation, the, of the Age, is the 
last time of the Church, 1. 

Continuous. — In what is continuous, dis- 
tance is only measured by things which 
are not continuous, 196. 

Copper denotes natural good, 115. 

Correspondence. — There is a corre- 
spondence of all things of heaven with all 
things of man, 87-102 ; and a correspond- 
ence of heaven with all things of the cnrth. 
108-115. The natural world is conjoined 
to the spiritual world by correspondences, 
106, 7iote. All things which correspond 
also signify the same things in the word, 
111, note. 

Correspondent. — Every thing is a cor- 
respondent which exists and subsists in 
nature from Divine Order, 107, 90. 

Crop of ripe corn, a, signifies a state of 
reception and the increase of truth derived 
from good, 489, note. 

Crop, a standing, signifies trutli in con- 
ception, 489. 

Darkness, from correspondence siffnifies 
falses ; and thick darkness the falses of 
evils, 487, 123. 

Darkness, thick, signifies the falsities of 
evil, 487, note. The light of heaven is 
thick darkness to the wicked, 487, note. 

Daughter-in-law, a, signifies good as- 
sociated to its truth, 382.* 

Daughters signify the affections of good, 
and thus goods, 382.* 

David represented the Lord as to His 
Divine Royalty, 526. In the prophetical 
parts of the Word, by David is meant the 
Lord, 216, note. 

Day signifies states of life in general. 
155, 165. 

Day-break signifies the obscurity which 
precedes the morning, 155. 

Day-dawn, in the time of spring, cor- 
responds to the state of peace of the angels 
in heaven, 289. 

Dead Bodies. — In the other life, the re- 
vengeful who have tlience contracted a 
eaviige and cruel nature, love to dwell 
•monffst graves and dead bodies, 486. 

^358 



Death is only a passage from one world 
to another, or from one life to another, 445, 
493. The life of infernal spirits is spiritual 
death, 80, 474. In the word death signifies 
resurrection, and continuation of life, 445. 

Decrease. — In heaven, the decrease oi 
wisdom according to distance from the 
centre is like the decrease of light verging 
to shade, 275. 

Defilements of Truth. — What they cor- 
respond to, 488. 

Degrees. — Degrees are of two kinds, 88. 
Continuous degrees, 38, 211. Discrete de- 
grees, 83, 34, 88, 211. There are three 
degrees of the interiors with every one, 
whether angel, spirit, or man ; they are 
opened after death with man according to 
his life, 33. 

Delights. — The highest delight of angels 
is to perform kind offices to all, to instruct 
them, and to take them to heaven, 450. 

Delights of Heaven, concerning the, 
897, and following. Concerning the de- 
lights of the love of self and of the world, 
400, and following. The delights of every 
one's life are turned after death into de- 
lights which correspond to them, 485-490. 
All delights flow from love, for what a man 
laves, he feels to be delightful, 396. 

Determinations. — With angels and spir- 
its all determinations spring from the ruling 
love, 143, 151. 

Devil, the. — There is not a single devil 
in hell who was created an angel of light, 
all are from the human race, 311, 644. The 
hells or the infernals taken together are 
called the devil and Satan, 311, note. The 
devil means the hell which is at the back, 
and is inhabited by the very worst spirits, 
called evil Genii, 544. See Satan and Lu- 
cifer. 

Dictated, to be. — What is dictated by 
the Lord passes through all the heavens in 
their order, and terminates with man, 259. 
With tiie prophets there was not influxbut 
dictation, 254. 

Die, to. — What takes place when man 
dies, 445. 

Difference between celestial and spir- 
itual angels, 25. Between the good in 
which the Gentiles are, and that which ex- 
ists among Christians, 321. Between the 
most ancient and the ancient Church, 327. 
Between man and beasts, 296. Between 
marriases in heaven and marriages on 
earth, 882.* 

Diffusion of the thoughts and affections, 
49, 79, 85, 199, 201, 203, 204, 206, 240, 477. 

Dignity, the, attached to every employ- 
ment is according to the dignity of its use ; * 
no angel arrogates tiie dignity to himself, 
but ascribes all dignity to the Lord, 339. 
Dignities and riches are not real blessings, 
and therefore they are given to the wicked 
as well as to the good, 364, 7iote. To be ^^ 
raised to dignities, 564. ^H 

Distance between the sun and moon in ^m 
heaven, 146. Between the quarters in the 
two kingdoms, 148. Distance slgnifiea 
difference of state, 192, note. Distances U 



INDEX. 



Ihe Bpintnal world originate solely in dif- 
ferences of the state of the interiors, 42, 
192,195,197. 

Divine, the, is One, and this Divine One 
is in the Lord, 2. A Divine which is not 
perceptible by unv idea, cannot be an ob- 
ject of faith, 3, ^lie Divine of the Lord 
makes heaven, 7-12. The Divine of the 
Lord in heaven is love to Him, and cliarity 
towards tlie neicrlibor, 13-19. A visible 
Divine, an invisible Divine, 79, 80. Tlie 
Divine celestial, Divine spiritual, and Di- 
vine natural, 31. 

Divine, the essential, of the Lord is far 
above His Divine in heaven, 118, note. 
The soul, which the Lord had from the 
Father, was the very Divine Itself, 316. 

Divine Good, the> is the he.\t of heaven 
which proceeds from the Lord as a Sun, 
117, 127, 133, 139. The Divine Good which 
proceeds from the Lord constitutes the 
Divine Order, 107. 

Divine Human, the. — See Extracts from 
the A. C. conoerninpr tl»e Lord, and con- 
cernimr His Divine Human, p. 86. Also n. 
78-S6,l01. 

DrviNE Love, it is, which shines as a 
Sun in heaven, 117, 127. The nature and 
intensity of the Divine Love, 120. The 
Divine Love which is the Lord as a Sun, 
is the Esse from which the Divine Good 
and Divine Truth in the heavens exist, 139. 
The Divine Love of the Lord is love to- 
wards all the human race, desiring to save 
them, 120, note. 

Divine Tkuth, the, is the Divine pro- 
ceeding from the Lord, 13, 140. It is the 
liijht whieli proceeds from the Lord as a 
Sun, 117, 122, 127, 128, 139, 133. All 
things were made and created by the Di- 
vine Truth, 137. Divine Truth is the Lord 
in heaven, 271. 

Doctrine, the, of the Church must be 
derived from the Word, 311, note. The 
AVord without doctrine is not understood, 
for true doctrine is a lamp to those who 
read the word, 311, note. Genuine doctrine 
must be had from those who are in illus- 
tration from the Lord, 311, note. Tlie doc- 
trine received from heaven is in perfect 
agreement with the internal sense of the 
Word, 51 6. Doctrine in the Ancient Church 
was the doctrine of charity, and hence that 
Church had wisdom, 481, note. The doc- 
trines in heaven are f.dapted to the per- 
ceptions of the angels in each heaven, 221, 
227. Tlie essential of all heavenly doc- 
trine is the acknowledgment of the Divine 
Human of the Lord, 227. 

DoiiiNioN. — There are two kinds of do- 
minion, the one springs from love towards 
the neitjhbor, the otiier from self-love, 564. 
Dominion of one married partner over 
another, 380. 

Dots. — Whence it is that the very dots, 
iotas, and minutest parts of the Word con- 
tain heavenly arcana and things Divine, 
260. 

Doves correspond to intellectual things, 
110. 

359 



Drttnken. — As scon as the angels think 
of marriage with moro than one, they are 
alienated from internal blessedness and 
heavenly felicity, and they become like 
drunken men, because good is disjoined in 
them from its own truth, 379. 

Dunghills. — They who pass their lives 
in mere pleasure, living delicately, and in- 
duliriiiir in the pleasures of the table, so as 
to account them the highest good of life, 
love and delight in dunghills in the other 
life, 488. 

Duration of the first state of man after 
death, 498. Duration of the abode of man 
in the world of spirits, 426. 

Ears, the, signify obedience, 97. In the 
Grand Man, those who are in the province 
of the ears are in attention and obedience, 
li6. Tiie ear corresponds to perception and 
obedience, and also the reception of truths, 
271. 

Earth, the, signifies the Church, 307. 
The lower earth, its situation, 513, 391. 
Concerning the Earths in the Universe, 
they are innumerable, 417. Their inhabit- 
ants adore the Divine Being under a Hu- 
man Form, 321. 

East, the. — In heaven, that quarter is 
called the east where the Lord appears as 
a Sun, 141. The Lord, in the supreme 
sense, is the East, 141. The East sio-nifies 
love and its srood in clear perception, 148, 
149. In hell, they who are in tlie evils 
which spring from self-love, dwell from the 
East to the West, 151. 

Edifices, why the sacred, of the most 
ancient people were of wood, 223, note. In 
the celestial kingdom, the sacred edifices 
are not called churches, but houses of God, 
223. 

Education of children in heaven, 334- 
344. In what respect it difiers from that 
of children on earth, 344. 

Elect, they are tlie, who are in the life 
of good and "truth, 420. 

Effects derive all their quality from their 
efficient cause, for such as the cause is, 
sucli is the effect, 512. 

Egypt AND Egyptian in the Word signify 
the natural principle, and the scientific 
thence derived, 307, note. The science of 
correspondences flourisJied in Egypt, 87, 
note. 

Elevation of the understanding into the 
light of heaven, 130, 131. There is an ac- 
tual elevation of the understandinor into 
the light of heaven, when man is elevated 
into intelligence, 130, note. 

Employments, concerning the, of the 
angels in heaven, 387-394. 

End, no, can be assigned to any good 
thing, because it springs from the Infinite, 
469. False opinions concerning the end of 
the world, 312. 

Ends. — Nothing is regarded by the Lord, 
and thence by the angels, but ends, which 
are uses, 112. 

Enlightened, to be, is to be elevated 
into the light of heaven, 131. The under- 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



standinsr is enligrhtened because it is recip- 
ient of truth, and it is enlio'htened so tar 
as man receives truth in good from the 
Lord, 130, note. 

Enth usiasts. — Who they are who become 
enthusiasts, and why they become such, 
24t>. 

ENfTRANCE, concerning the, of man into 
eternal life, 445-452. 

Equilibrium, concerning the, between 
heaven and hell, 589-596. Equilibrium is 
the balance of two forces, of which one 
acts, and the other reacts, 589. The safety 
of all in heaven and earth is founded on 
equilibrium, 594. The world of spirits is 
the especial seat of equilibrium, GOO. Tiie 
equilibrium between the heavens and the 
Jiells is diminished or increased, according 
to the number of spirits who enter them, 
593. 

Errors. — Those who are in the sense of 
the letter without doctrine are led away 
into many errors, 311, note. 

Essk. — The Divine Itself was the Esse of 
the Lord's Life, p. 86. The will of man is 
the very Esse of his life, 26, 447, 474. 

Essential, the, of order, is the Divine 
Good, 77, note, 523. Tt is an essential of 
the Church to acknowledge the Divine of 
the Lord and His union with the Father, 
p. 86. The essential of all heavenly doc- 
trine is the acknowledgment of the Di- 
vine Human of the Lord, 227. Innocence 
is the essential of what is good and true, 
281. 

EvENiNO signifies a state of closing light 
and love, 155, 166. It corresponds to a 
state of wisdom in its shade, 155. 

Evil comes from the proprium of man, 
484. All evils are derived from the love of 
self and the world, they are contempt of 
others, enmities, hatred, revenge, cruelty, 
deceit, 359, Twte. The hereditary evil of 
man consists in loving himself more than 
God, and the world more than heaven, and 
iu making no account of his neighbor in 
comparison with himself, except only for 
the sake of himself, which is to love him- 
self; so that it consists in the loves of self 
and the world, 342, note. Every evil brinsrs 
its own punishment along -with it, since 
evil and punishment are joined togetlier, 
509. Man is the cause of his own evil, and 
not the Lord, 547. Why, in the Word, 
evil is attributed to the Lord, when yet 
nothing can proceed from the Lord but 
good, 545. Every evil has a false principle 
within it, and therefore they who are in 
evil are also iu the false, although some of 
them do not know it, 551. 

Exist, to. — Nothing can exist from it- 
pelf, but from something prior to itself, 
consequently all things exist from a First, 
which is the very Esse of the life of all 
things, 9, 37, 304. With the Lord, the Ex- 
istere of life, proceeding from the Esse, was 
the Human which went forth from the Di- 
vine itself, p. 86. With man, the Existere 
of life proceeding from the Esse is the un- 
derstanding, t74. 

360 



ExTENsioN,difference between, in heaven, 
and extension in the world. 85. 

ExTEKiORs, the, of the spirit enable man 
to adapt tlie body, and especially the face, 
speech, and manners, to the society in 
which he lives in the world, 492. Exterior 
tilings are more remote from the Divine in 
man, and therefore respectively obscure 
and confused, 267, note. See Interiors. 

Eye, the, signifies the understanding, be- 
cause the understanding is the internal 
sight, 97, 145. The sight of the eye siorni- 
fies intelliofence which is of faith, and also 
faith itself, 271. 

Eye of a needle, the, signifies spiritual 
truth, 365. 

Eyes, the, correspond to the understand- 
ing, 145. They correspond to truths de- 
rived from good, 282, note. In the Grand 
Man, those who are in the province of the 
eyes excel in understandino:, 96. The 
reason why all infants in heaven are in the 
province of the eyes, 333. To lift up the 
eyes and to see, signifies to understand, to 
perceive, and to observe, 145. 

Face, the, is formed to correspondence 
with the interiors, 143. With the angels 
the face makes one with the interiors of 
the mind, 143, 457. It is the form of their 
affections, 47. The face of the spirit ot 
man differs exceedingly from that of his 
body, 457. The face of the body is derived 
from his parents, but the face of the spir^ 
is derived from the a:feetion, and is the 
image of it, 457. In the Word, the face 
corresponds to the interiors of man, which 
are of the thought and affection, 251, 457. 

Faith is the lisrht of truth, it is derived 
from charity, 148. Faith is every thing 
which relates to doctrine, and consists in 
thinking justly and rightly, 364. Faith 
separate from love is not faith, but mere 
science void of spiritual life, 474. Faith 
does not remain with man, unless it springs 
from heavenly love, 482. Mere belief in 
the truth and in the Word is not faith, 
but to love truth from heavenly love, and 
to will and do it from interior affection, is 
faith, 482. 

False principle, every, originates in 
evils, and springs from the love of self and 
the world, 342, 558. 

Fekt signify the natural principle, 97. 
In the Grand Man, they who are in the 
province of the feet, are in the ultimate 
good of heaven, which is called spiritual 
luitural good, 96. 

Fibres, concerning nervous, in the hu- 
man body, 212, 413. 

Fields signify things analogous which 
pertain to state, 197. 

Fire, in the Word, signifies love, either 
heavenly or infernal. Sacred and celestial 
fire signifies Divine Love, and infernal 
fire, tlie loves of self and of the world, 13, 
118, 134. Concerning infernal fire, 566-575. 

First, tlie, and the Last, signify all 
things in general and every particulai 
thing, 304. 




INDEX. 



FiAME signifies spiritual good, 179. In 
the opposite sense it signifies the evils of 
Belf-love, 585. 

Flesh, the, of the Lord, signifies His 
Divine Human, and the divine good of 
His Lov^e, 147, note. 

Flowkr-beds signify scientific truths and 
knowledges, 4S9. note. 

Flowers and Flower-beds signify scien- 
tific truths and knowledges, 489, note. 

Food corresponds to analogous atfections 
which nourish spiritual life, 111, 274. 

Food, in a spiritual sense, is every thing 
which proceeds from the mouth of the 
Lord. Spiritual food is science, intelli- 
gence, and wisdom, and thus the good and 
truth from which they are derived, 340, 
iwte. 

Foolish. — Those who continually look 
to themselves and not to the Divine are 
foolish, 10. 

Forehead, the, corresponds to celestial 
love, and in the Word signifies that love, 
145, note, 251. 

Form, concerning the, of heaven, 200- 
212, The form of every thing results from 
its order, and is according to it, 201. In 
the most perfect form, Avhich is that of 
heaven, there is a likeness of the whole ia 
every part, and of every part in the whole, 
73, 62, 72. The form of the natural man 
may differ exceedingly from the form -of 
the spiritual man, 99. The human form is 
the form of heaven, of every society, and 
of every angel, 460. In the natural world, 
all things wliich exist according to order 
are forms of uses, 112. 

Foundations signify the truths on which 
the Church is founded, 1S7. 

Freedom. — All freedom is of love and 
afl:ectiou, because what a man loves that he 
does freely, 45. 293. See Extracts from the 
A. 0. concerning the Freedom of man ; 
also 45, 293, 598. 

Freely. — All things which angels need 
are given them freely by the Lord, 266, 
293. 

Fruits signify the goods of love and 
charity, 176, 185. 

Gabriel is an angelic society so named 
from its functions, 52. 

Garden, a, signifies intelligence, 111, 
176. 

Garments, in the Word, signify truths, 
because they invest good, 129, note; thus 
they signify knowledges, 365, note. The 
garments of the Lord when He was trans- 
fisfured signified divine truths proceeding 
from the Divine Love, 129. Bright gar- 
ments of fine linen signify truths from the 
Divine, 179. Concerning the garments 
with which the angels appear clothed, 177- 
182. The garments of the angels are really 
garments, 181. 

Gates signify introduction into the doc- 
trine of the Ciiurch and by doctrine into 
the Church, 187, note, 307. Gates of hell 
and of lieaven, 423-430. 

General, things, are in a degree inferior 

361 



to things particular. Things general con- 
tain things particular, 267. 

Generation signifies r«-generation by 
faith and love, 382,* note. 

Generations siofnifv analogous spirituai 
things, which are those of good, and truth, 
or of love and faith, 382,* note. 

Genii. — Who, and of what qunlity, those 
infernal spirits are which are called Genii, 
123, 151, 579. 

Gentiles, the, are those who are born 
out of the Church, 3. Gentiles are saved 
as well as Christians, 318, note. They are 
afraid of Christians on account of their 
lives, 321, note, 325. The Gentiles of the 
present day enter heaven jnore easily than 
Christians, 324, 514. In what manner they 
are iniBtructed in the other life, 321, 512. 
513. 

Gestures. — The determinations of man's 
will are manifested in the gestures of hi.s 
body, 91, 244. 

Glorification op the Lord. — See ex- 
tracts from the A. (7., p. 86. 

Glort, in the Word, signifies divine 
truth as it is in heaven, and as it is in the 
internal sense of the Word, 1. 

Gnashing of Teeth, 566-575, 245. 

Goats signify afi"eetioiis, 110. 

God is a Man, 85. They who jud^e of 
every thing from the sensual principle of 
the external man, can with difficulty com- 
prehend this truth, 85. In the universal 
heaven no other God is acknowledged but 
the Lord alone, 2. See Dlvme, Divine 
JIaman, Lord. 

Gold signifies celestial good, 115, 307. 

Good, all, is of love, 23. That is called 
good which is of the will and thence of ac- 
tion, 26. Celestial good is the good of 
love to the Lord, 23 ; this good is in the in- 
most heaven, 31, note. Spiritual good is 
the good of charity towards the neighbor, 
23, 215; and in its essence is truth, 215; 
this good is in the middle heaven, 31, note. 
Spiritual-natural good is the good of the 
ultimate heaven, 31, note. The good of 
love, 51. It corresponds to fire, 118. It 
is spiritual heat, 136. The srood of faith, 
51 ; it corresponds to light, 118 ; this good 
in its essence is truth derived from good, 
118. The good of infancy is not spiritual, 
but becomes so by the implantation of 
truth, 277, note ; it is a medium by which 
intelligence is implanted, 277, note. Mau 
without the good of innocence infused in 
infancy would be a wild beast, 277, note. 
Moral good is sincerity, 481. Civil good 
is justice, 481. Common good, 392, 418, 
217. Every good is a good according to 
use, 107. All good has its quality and de- 
light from uses, and according to them. 
112. Of good and of its delight, 288. All 
good which proceeds from the Lord has 
the Lord within it, but not good from the 
proprium, 9. All things in the universe 
have reference to good and to truth, 9, 
473. Every good and truth which proceeds 
from the Lord and maizes heaven, is in a 
human form, 460. Between good and 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



truth there is the resemblance of a mar- 
riage, 319, note. To do gfood to the evil is 
to do evil to the good, 390, note. All who 
live in good, according to the principles of 
religion, and acknowledge a Divine Being, 
are accepted of the Lord, 308. 

Governments in Heaven, concerning, 
213-220. 

Governments. — When the love of self 
and the love of the world began to prevail, 
men were compelled for security to sub- 
ject tliemselves to governments, 220, note. 

Grasses signify scientific truths, 489. 

GuotrND. — The human mind is like 
ground which acquires a value according 
to its cultivation, 356. 

Grove, a, signifies intelligence, 489, 111. 

Grow old, to, in heaven is to grow 
young, 414. 

Habitations of Angels, concerning the, 
183-190, 148, 149, 207. When angels are 
attendant on man, tlic}' dwell, as it were, 
in his affections, 391. The Lord dwells 
with angels, in what is his own, and not 
in the'w propriujn, 8, note. 

Hands, in the Word, siarnify the power 
of truth, 97, 231. Those who in the Grand 
Man are in the province of tlie hands are 
in the power oftrutli derived from good, 9fi. 

Happiness, concerning heavenly, 395- 
415. All the happiness of life is from 
uses, 361, note. 

Head, the, signifies intelligence and wis- 
dom, 97. In the Grand Man, they who 
are in the head excel all others in every 
good, 96. 

Head, back of the. — In heaven it is not 
lawful for any one there to stand behind 
another, and to look at the back of his 
head, 144. The infl.ux of the celestial an- 
gels with man is into that part of the head 
which is called the occiput, for that region 
corresponds to wisdom, 251. Those evil 
spirits called genii are seated, with man, 
beneath the hinder part of the head, 579. 

Hearing. — See concerning this Sense, 402, 
462. 

Heart, the, signifies the will, and also 
the good of love, 95, 446. It coi'responds 
to the affection which is of love, 447. It 
corresponds to the Lord's celestial king- 
dom, 449, note. As soon as the movement 
of the heart ceases man is resuscitated, 
447. See Lungs. 

Heat in Heaven, concerning, 126-140. 
Celestial heat, in its essence, is Divine 
Good, or Divine Love, 266. The heat 
which proceeds from the Lord, as a Sun, 
is the affection which is of love, and in its 
essence is love, 133, note. Tli'^- heat of 
heaven is Divine Love, and the heat of 
hell is self-love, 572. Infernal heat is 
changed into intense cold whenever the 
heat of heaven flows into it, 572. In the 
Word, heat signifies love, 155. 

Heaven. — Love to the Lord and charity 
towards the neighbor make heaven. 151. 
Heaven is distin<ruished into two king- 
doms, 20-28. There are three heavens, 

362 



29-40. The inmost or third, the middle 
or second, and the Ultimate or first heaven, 
29, 267, 270, 271, 280. Interior and exte- 
rior heavens, 22. Superior and inferior 
heavens, 22, 120. Celestial-natural, and 
celestial-spiritual, heavens, 31. The heav- 
ens consist of innumerable societies, 41-50. 
The universal heaven, viewed collectively, 
resembles one man, 59-67. Situation ol 
the heavens, 66. Heaven is witiiin man 
and not out of him, 33, 54, 319. Concern- 
ing the form of heaven, 200-212. The 
universal heaven is aixanged by the Lord, 
according to His Divine Order, 200, note. 
The Lord provides that the form of heaven 
may be in every part the same, 149. It is 
distinguished, like man, into members and 
parts, which are also similarly named, 63. 
Heaven is not granted from unconditional 
mercy, but according to the life, 54, note. 
It is not closed from fulness, for the greater 
its fulness the greater its perfection, 71. 

Hebrew Language, the, agrees in some 
particulars with angelic language, 237. He- 
brew letters, 260, 241. 

He-goats correspond to affections, 110. 

Height signifies good and truth as to 
degrees, 198," 307. 

JHell. — The love of self and the love oi 
the world make hell, 151, note. In a gen- 
eral point of view there are three hells, the 
lowest hell opposite the third heaven, the 
middle hell opposite the middle or second 
heaven, and the highest hell opposite to 
the lowest or first heaven, 542. There are 
as many hells as there are heavenly socie- 
ties, 541, 542. All the hells act as one 
force, 592. The proprium of man is hell 
within him, 592, note. The Lord rules the 
hells, 536-544. Situation of the hells, 582 
-588. The Lord casts no one into hell, 
but evil spirits cast tliemselves in, 545-550. 
The inhabitants of hell do not actually live 
in fire, 571. They are in the evils and 
falses which originate in self-love and the 
love of the world, 551-565. The fear of 
punishment is the only means of restrain 
ing the violence of the internals, 543. 

Herbs signify scientific truth, 489. 

Heresies. — Those who are, in the literal 
sense of the Word, unenlightened by gen- 
uine doctrine, fall into heresies, 311, 455. 

High signifies what is internal, and also 
heaven, 188, note, 197. 

Hills signify the good of charity ; the an- 
gels who are in this good dwell on hills, 188. 

Hole in the Rook, a, signifies an obscure 
and false principle of taith, 488. 

Holiness. — What external holiness is, 
224. 

Holt. — What is called the Holy Spirit 
proceeding from the Lord, 140. The lot 
of those, in the other life, who have lived 
piously and holily in externals, that they 
may be honored and accounted saints after 
death, 535. 

Hour signifies state, 165. A. C. 4334. 

Houses of the Angem, concerning the, 
I 183-190. The angels have cities, palaces, 
I and houses, 184, note. 



INDEX. 



Houses in Heavkn, concerning, 184, 180. 
Houses, and the things whicli tliey con- 
tain, sigviity tliosc thiiiirs in man which are 
of his mind ; that is, Jiis interior, conse- 
quently, which relate to good and truth, 
18^5, note. A hvvse of tvood signities what 
is of good, and a hovfe of stone, what is of 
truth, 186, note. The House of God, in 
the supreme sense, signifies the Divine 
Human of tlio Lord, as to Divine Good, 
and in the respective sense, heaven and 
the churcli as to good and truth, 187, note, 
223. Tlie house where the marriage Avas 
celebrated signifies heaven and the church, 
on account of the Lord's conjunction with 
them by His Divine Truth, 180. 

Human Race, Heaven and Hell are from 
the, 811-317. The human race is the sem- 
inary of heaven, 417. 

Hundred and Forty-four, a, denotes all 
truths and goods in the complex, 73, note, 
807. 

Hungeb, to, signifies to desire the knowl- 
edge of good and truth, 420. 

Hungry. — In the Word, those are called 
liungry who are not in the knowledges of 
good and truth, but who still desire them, 
420. 

Husband. — Why the Lord, in the Word, 
is called husband, 180. Husband is pred- 
icated of the Lord, and of His conjunc- 
tion with heaven and the church, 368, note. 
Husband signifies the understanding of 
truth, 868. 

Idea. — There are innumerable things 
contained in one idea of thought, 240, note. 
Tlie ideas of thought are various forms 
into which the common affection is dis- 
tributed, for no thought or idea can exist 
without affection ; it is their soul and life, 
286. The natural ideas of man are turned 
into spiritual ideas with the angels, 165. 
Wiien angelic ideas, which lare spiritual, 
flow in with man, they are turned in an 
instant, and of themselves, into natural 
ideas proper to man, to which they exactly 
correspond, 168. The ideas of the internal 
man are spiritual, but man during his life 
in the world perceives them naturally, be- 
cause he then thinks in the natural prin- 
ciple, 243, note. After death man comes 
into his interior ideas, and those ideas 
then form his speech, 248, note. 

Ignorant. — Why man is born entirely 
ignorant, 108. 

Image. — In the other life every one be- 
comes the visible image of his own love, 
even in externals, 481. 

Immensity of heaven, concerning the, 
415-418. 

Industry, Human. — Whatever the in- 
dustry of man prepares for his own use 
are correspondencies, 104. 

Infancy. — The spirits who attend on in- 
fancy are characterized by innocence; those 
which attend on childhood are distinguish- 
ed by the affection of knowing, 295. The 
pood of infancy is not spiritual good, but 
it becomes so by the implantation of truth, 

363 



277, note. Whatever is imbibed in infancj 
appears natural, 277, note. 

Infants in Heaven, concerning, 4, 829- 
845. They grow up there, 4; tliose who 
are of a spiritual character are in the pro- 
vince of the left eye of the Grand Man, 
and those who are of a celestial character 
are in the province of the right eye, 833, 

339. Every object appears to them to be 
alive, 338. Temptation of infants, 343. In 
heaven they do not advance beyond early 
youth, but remain in that state to eternity, 

340. Character of little children upon 
earth, 277. Those who die infants, wher- 
ever they are born, are accepted by the 
Lord, 808, note. In the Word, an infant 
signifies one who is innocent, 278. 

Infinite. — There is no proportion be- 
tween what is infinite and what is finite. 
273. 

Influx. — See p. 608. Extracts from the 
A. G. concernino: influx. See also n. 26, 87. 
110, 112, 135, 143, 207, 208, 209, 277, 282, 
296, 297, 298, 304, 319, 435, 455, 549, 567. 

Inherent.— Sec 74, 82, 260, 602. 

Inmost. — In every man there is an inmost 
or supreme degree, by which he is distin- 
guished from brute animals, and into which 
the Divine of the Lord first flows, and ele- 
vates man to Himself, 39, 435. 

Innocence is the receptacle of the truth 
of faith, and of the good of love, 330. Of 
the state of innocence of the angels in 
heaven, 276-283. Innocence with them is 
the very esse of all good, 282. Concerning 
the innocence of little children, 277. The 
innocence of infiints is the plane of all the 
affections of good and truth, 341. The in- 
nocence of infants is not true innocence, 
because true innocence dwells in wisdom, 
277. Genuine innocence is wisdom, 341. 

Inspiration. — In what manner the Lord 
spoke with the prophets, by whom the 
Word was given, 254. 

Instruction, concerning the state of, pro- 
vided for those who go to heaven, 512-520. 

Instructresses, concerning the, of chil- 
dren in the other life, 832, 337. 

Intklligence. — The Divine Intelligence 
is the light of heaven, 131. Heavenly in- 
telligence is interior intelligence, arising 
from the love of truth for the sake of truth, 
847. Intelligence consists in receiving 
truth from the Lord, 80 ; and also in see- 
ing and perceiving what is true and what 
is false, and in accurately distinguishing 
the one from the other, by intuition and 
interior perception, 851. What spurious 
intelligence consists in, 852. The nature 
of false intelligence, 853. Intelligence and 
wisdom constitute the man, 80. See Wu~ 
dom. 

Intelligent. — Who are meant by the 
intelligent, 847, 348, 356. 

Intention springs from love, ».nd there- 
fore man's love determines his* internal 
sight or thought towards its objects, 632. 

Interiors, the, of the spirit, ate of hia 
own will and its derivative thought, 492, 
Interior things flow by successive ordei 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



into external thinjSfs, even to tlie extreme 
or ultimate, and there tliey exist and sub- 
sist, 804, note, 4:75. Their existence and 
subsistence in ultiniates is in simultaneous 
order, hence all interior things are held 
together in connection from the First by 
tlie Last, 304, note, 475. The quality of 
man, as determined by his interiors, re- 
mains to.eternity the same, 501, See also 
80, 33, 38, 143, 173, 267, 313, 351, 444, 481. 

Iota, why every, of the Word contains 
heavenly arcana and things Divine, 260. 

Ikon signifies truth in the ultimate of 
order, 115, note. 

Isaac. — In the Word, Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob denote the Lord as to His Di- 
vine, and His Divine Human, 526. 

Israel signifies the spiritual principle, 
807. The stone or rock of Israel denotes 
the Lord as to Divine Truth and as to the 
Divine Humanity, 534. 

Jacob. — In the Word, Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob denote the Lord as to His Di- 
vine, and His Divine Human, 526. 

James represented the Lord as to charity, 
526, note. 

Jehovah. — The Lord was the God of 
the most ancient church, and also of the 
ancient, and He was called Jehovah, 327, 
note. 

Jesus. — The Lord was called Jesus, in 
the world, from the Divine Celestial, 24. 
See Christ. 

Jerusalem is the Lord's church, 73. It 
Bignilies the church in which there is gen- 
uine doctrine, 180, 187. 

Jerusalem, The New, signifies the 
fchiAch which is to be established here- 
after, 187. It signifies the New Church, 
197. By the city of Jerusalem coming 
down from God out of heaven, is under- 
stood the heavenly doctrine revealed by 
the Lord, 307. 

John represented the Lord as to the 
works of charity, 526, note. 

Journey, to, signifies to live, and also a 
progression of life; to walk with the Lord, 
is to live with Him, 192, note, 590. 

Joy, concerning heavenly, 395-415. 
When any one receives the inmost of his 
own joy, he is in his own heavenly joy, 
and cannot enjoy a more interior joy, be- 
cause it would be painful to him, 410. 

Judge, the, who punishes the evil that 
they may be amended, and to prevent the 
good being contaminated and injured by 
them, loves his neighbor, 300, 7iote. 

Judged, to be, according to man's deeds 
and works, is to be judged according to 
the interiors, 358 ; that is to say, according 
to the will and thought, or love and faith, 
which are his interiors, 475. 

Judgment. — In the Word, judgment is 
predicated of truth, 64, 215, 348. Great 
judgments denote laws of the Divine order, 
which are Divine truths, 215, note. By 
judgment is signified spiritual good, which 
in its essence is truth, 216. 

Just. — What is done from the good of 

364 



love to the Lord, is called just, 214. A 
justified person is one to whom the merit 
and righteousness of the Lord are ascribed, 
348. 

Justice, in the Word, is predicated of 
good, 64, 215, 348. The justice of the Lord 
is the good which proceeds from the Lord 
and which rules in heaven, 348. Justice 
signifies celestial good, 216. To do justice 
and judgment denotes good and truth, 
215, 348. 

Keys, the, given to Peter, signify the 
power derived from the Lord by faith, 232. 

Kidneys, the, signify the examination 
and correction of truth, 97. In the Grand 
Man, they who are in the province of the 
kidneys excel in truth, which examines, 
distinguishes, and corrects, 96. 

Kingdom. — Heaven is distinguished into 
two kingdoms, 20-28. The celestial and 
the spiritual kingdom, 21. The celestial 
kingdom corresponds to the heart, and to 
all things which belong to the Jieart in the 
whole body; and the spiritual kingdom 
belongs to the lungs, and to all things 
which belong to them in the whole body, 
95. Concerning these two kingdoms, see 
133, 146, 148, 188, 213-215, 217, 223, 225, 
241. Priestly kingdom, and regal king- 
dom, 24. The kingdom of the Lord is a 
kingdom of uses, 219, 361, 387. 

Kings, in the Word, signify those who 
are in Divine truth ; they represent the 
Lord as to Divine truth, 226, note. 

Knowledges, regarded in themselves, 
are out of heaven, but the life acquired 
by them is in heaven, 518. 

Language, angelic. — The universal heav- 
en is of one language ; this language is not 
taught there, but is implanted in every one, 
236. It has nothing in common with hu- 
man language, 237, 261. Spirits and angels 
speak from the interior memory, and hence 
they have a universal language, but lan- 
guages in the world belong to the exterior 
memory, 463, vote. The primitive language 
of mankind on earth was in agreement 
with angelic language, because they had 
it from heaven, and the Hebrew tongue 
agrees with it in some particulars, 237. 
They who, in the Grand Man, are in tlie 
province of the tongue, are in discourse 
from understanding and perception, 96. 

Lambs correspond to the affections of the 
spiritual mind, 110. A Iamb, in the Word, 
signifies innocence and its good, 282. 

Last, the, 31, 304. See t/ie First. 

Last Judgment. — Erroneous belief con- 
cerning the last judgment, 1, 312. 

Laurels correspond to the affection of 
truth and its uses, 520. 

Laws of Order, the, are Divine Truths, 
57, 202, The laws of spiritual, civil, and 
moral life, are delivered in the Ten Com- 
mandments of the Decalogue, 531. 

Letters, Hebrew, their form, 260, 241. 

Learned. — False beliefs amongst the 
learned, 74, 183, 312, 518. 



INDEX. 



Learned, the, what they become, 267, 
note; 74, 312, 313, 846, 353, 354, 456, 464. 

Leakning, worldly. — Into what it is 
changed when it has not received light 
froiu'lieaven by the ackuowledgment of a 
Divine, 354, 355. 

LEtT, the. — Those things which are on 
the left side correspond to truth which is 
derived from good, 118. 

Lknoth, by, is understood a state of 
good, 197. 

Length, in the Word, signifies good, 
198, note, 307. 

Life. — There is only one single life from 
which all live, both in heaven and in tlie 
world, and that life is from the Lord alone, 
and flows into angels, spirits, and men, in 
a wonderful manner, 203. There is only 
one fountain of life, and the life of man is 
a stream from it, 9. Every one's life is 
tlie same as the quality of his love, 14. 
The life which flows in from the Lord va- 
ries according to the state of man, and ac- 
cording to tlie quality of his reception, 297, 
vote. Tlie life of tlie will is the principal 
life of man, and the life of the understand- 
ing proceeds from it, 26, note, 61, 474. The 
all of man's life consists in this, tliat he 
ean think and be aflected, or what is the 
same thing, that he can understand and 
will, 303, 512, The life of good is of the 
will, and tlie life of truth of the under- 
standing, 231. The life of man is three- 
fold, civil life, moral life, and spiritual life, 
529, 530, 531. 

Light, concerning, in heaven, 126-140. 
The light of heaven is divine truth or di- 
vine wisdom, 266. All light in the heav- 
ens is from the Lord as a sun, 127, note. 
Tlie divine truth proceeding from the Lord 
appears in heaven as light, and is all the 
light of heaven, 127, note. The light of 
heaven enlightens at the same time the in- 
ternal sight of the angels, which is the 
biglit of the mind, and their external sight, 
which is that of the eyes, 266. The light 
of the world is for the external man, and 
the light of heaven for the internal man, 
347, note. The light of heaven flows into 
natural light, and the natural man is wise 
so far as he receives the light of heaven, 
347, note. In the Word, light signifies 
truth proceeding from the good of love, 13, 
note. It signifies the truth of faith, 118, 
note. It signifies truth derived from good, 
123, 179. 

Light, natural, is the light of the world, 
whicli is the external man, 130, 347, 352. 

Like sees like, because its vision is from 
alike origin, 76. 

LiNEx, fine, signifies truth from a celes- 
tial origin, 865, note. 

Live, to. — in order that man may re- 
ceive the light of heaven it is necessary 
that he should live in the world and en- 
gage in its business and its duties, for thus, 
by a moral and civil life, he receives spir- 
itual life, 528, 35S, 359. 

LrvEU, the, corresponds to the purifica- 
tion of good and truth, 96, 217. 

365 



Loins, the, signifies in the Word, ccnjii- 
gial love, 97. In the Grand Man those who 
are in tlie province of the loins are in con 
jugial love, 96. 

Loud, the, is the God of heaven, 2-6. 
lie is the sun of heaven, 118. The Lord 
alone is num. and every one is a man, so 
far as he receives the Lord, SO. The Lord, 
in person, is always encompasse<l with the 
sun ; thus He is not personally in heaven, 
but He is present there by at-iycct, 121. The 
Lord, as a sun, appears to every one ac- 
cording to the quality of his state, 159. 
The Lord alone rose again as to the Body, 
316. Concerning the Lord, and concern- 
ing His Divine Human, see extracts from 
A. C. p. 86. To love the Lord is to love 
wliat is good and true, 64,481. To be in, 
the Lord, or in His Body, signifies to bo 
in the good of His love, 81. Those vi^ho 
are in heaven are said to be in the Lord, 8. 
What is from the Lord is Himself, 12. 
The Lord is Mercy Itself, Love Itself, and 
Good Itself, 254. 

Love is the fire of life, 14. It is the 
very life of man, 447. Love is spiritual 
conjunction, 14, 272. In love there are 
innumerable things, for love takes to itself 
all things whicli are in agreement with 
itself, 18, note. Celestial love is the love 
in which they are who constitute the celes- 
tial kingdom, 23, 268,* 481, 557. Love to 
the Lord is celestial love, 15, 23, 272. Love 
to the neighbor is spiritual love, 15, 23, 
272. Conjugial love, 281, 367-386. Love 
of self, yh, 151, 272, 283, 342, 359, 400, 
554-556, 559. Love of the world, 123, 151, 
842, 859, 400, 554, 555, 565. Euling love, 
58, 448, 236, 249, 352, 377, 479 ; it is that 
which is loved above all things, 486. 

Loves, interior and exterior, 477. It is 
the nature of heavenly loves to communi- 
cate their delights, but it is the nature of 
the loves of self and the world to destroy 
the delights of others, 399. Celestial and 
corporeal loves, 481. 

Love, to, is to will and do, 850. To love 
and not do good, when it is possible, is in 
reality not to love, but a mere phantasy, 
475. To love the Lord and the neighbor is 
to live according to the Lord's command- 
ments, 15, note. 

Lucifer denotes those who are of Babel 
or Babylon, and who pretend to have do- 
minion even in heaven, 544. 

Lungs. — The breath of the lungs signify 
understanding, and also the truth of faith, 
95, note, 446, note. The respiration of the 
lungs corresponds to thought, 446. The 
lungs correspond to the Lord's spiritual 
kingdom, 449, note. See Heart. 

Lust is love in its continuity ; it is from 
the love of self and the world, and is the 
fire of hell, 570. 

Man is man from the will, and thence 
from the understanding, 26, 61 ; or because 
he can understand the true and will the 
good, 60. So far as he lives according to 
order he becomes a man, 202. The will oi 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



man is the very esse of his life, and the un- 
derstanding is the existere thence derived, 
61. All things of Divine Order were col- 
lated into man, and he is from creation Di- 
vine Order and form, and thence a heaven 
in miniature, 30, 57, 202, 454. His internal 
man was formed after the image of heaven, 
and his external after the image of the 
world, 80, note, 57, 313. In man the spir- 
itual and natural world are conjoined, 313. 
Man is bdrn into evil and the false, and 
thus into what is contrary to Divine order, 
consequently he is born in utter ignorance, 
and therefore it is necessary that he should 
be horn again, or regenerated, 202, note, 
523. Every man is a spirit as to his inte- 
riors, 432-444. Man viewed in himself is 
a spirit, and the corporeal frame which is 
annexed to him, for the sake of perform- 
ing functions in the natural and material 
world, is not the man, but only an instru- 
ment for the use of his spirit, 435. Angels 
and spirits are attendant on every man, 
and by them he has communication witli 
the spiritual world, 292, note. Man cannot 
live without attendant spirits, 292. They 
are not visible to him, nor is he visible to 
them, 292. Spirits can see nothing which 
is in our solar world, except what belongs 
to him with whom they speak, 292, note. 
The spirits who are adjoined to man are of 
the same quality as he is himself, as to af- 
fection or love, 295. The quality of a man's 
uses is the quality of the man, 112, note. 
All things of man and of man's spirit are 
in his deeds or works, 475. Man after 
death is in a perfect human form, 453-460. 
At death he leaves nothing behind him 
but his terrestrial body, 461-469. When 
man passes from one life into the other, or 
from one world into the other, it is like 
passing from one place to another, 461. 
Man after death is equally man as before, 
456. He is such as his life has been in the 
world, 470-454. He is his own love and 
his own will, 479. He remains after death, 
to eternity, of the same quality as his will 
or ruling love, 480. The reason why man, 
after death, is no longer capable of being 
reformed by instruction, as he is in the 
world, 480. The man who is in celestial 
and spiritual love goes to heaven, and lie 
who is in corporeal and worldly love, with- 
out celestial and spiritual love, goes to hell, 
481. Faith does not remain with man, 
unless it springs from heavenly love, 482. 
Love in act, which is the very life of man, 
remains after death, 483. Every man, as 
to his spirit, is in society with spirits, 
though during his life in the world he does 
not a|)pear as a spirit in their society, but 
they who think abstractedly from the body 
isometimes appear in their own society, 438. 
Man is in freedom by virtue of the equilib- 
rium between heaven and hell, 597-600. 
If man really believed the truth, that all 
good is from the Lord, and all evil from 
hell, he would not take merit to himself on 
account of his good ; nor would evil be 
imputed to him, 802. la the Word, man 

366 



(vir) signifies the understanding of truth, 
or those who are intelligent, 368, note. 

Man, the Grand. — The universal heaven, 
viewed collectively, resembles one Man, 
and is therefore called the Grand Man, 59. 
See also 94, 96, 217, 333. 

Manhood. — Those spirits which attend 
on youth and manhood are in the affection 
of truth and good, and communicate with 
the second, or middle heaven, 295. 

Man-Spirit, 422, 456, 461. Difference 
between man-spirit and spirit, 552, 

Marriage, by, in the Word is understood 
the marriage of good and truth which ex- 
ists in heaven, and should be in the Church, 
281, note. Concerning marriages in heaven, 
866-386. The manner in which they are 
contracted in heaven, 883. The infernal 
marriage is the conjunction of the false 
and evil, 377. 

Master. — In heaven the Master loves the 
servants, and the servants love the Master, 
219. Children are instructed by masters, 
334. 

Materiality, which is proper to the 
body, is added, and almost as it were ad- 
joined to the spirit, in order that the spirit 
of man may live and perform uses in the 
natural world, because all things in this 
world are material, and in themselves void 
of life, 60, 432. That which is material 
sees nothing but what is material, and that 
which is spiritual sees what is spiritual, 453. 

Means of Salvation are Divine Truths. 
These truths teach man how to live in or- 
der to be saved, 522. 

Measure denotes the quality of a thing 
as to good and truth, 73, 307, 349. 

Memory. — Man has two memories, one 
exterior and the other interior; the things 
contained in the exterior memory are in 
the light of the world, but the things con- 
tained in the interior memory are in the 
light of heaven. Every thing which man 
speaks or does, and every thing which he 
sees and hears, is inscribed on the interior 
memory ; this memory is the book of man's 
life. Those things which have become ha- 
bitual, and have been made matters of life, 
are obliterated in the exterior memory, but 
remain in the interior memory, 463, note. 
Man takes all his memory with him when 
he quits the world, 462.* The external or 
natural memory is in man after death, but 
it is quiescent, and nothing which man 
imbibed by means of material things is 
any longer active, except what he has made 
rational by reflective application to use, 
464. See also 461, 466, 467, 469. 

Mercy. — That no one goes to heaven, by 
an act of unconditional mercy, 521-^527. 
Heaven is not granted from unconditional 
mercy, but according to the life ; and the 
all of that life, by which man is led of the 
Lord to heaven, is from mercy, 54, noie^ 
420. If heaven were granted from imme- 
diate mercy, it would be granted to all, 54, 
note^ 524. There is no such thing as im- 
mediate mercy, but mercy is mediate, and 
is exercised towards those who live accord- 



INDEX. 



iner lo the Lord's precepts, because, from n 
principle of niercy, he leads men continu- 
nllv in the world, and afterwards to eter- 
nity, ;364, >wf^, 420, 4S0. It is impossible 
for a man who lives in evils, to be saved by 
mercy alone, because this is contrary to 
divine order, 523, vote. Divine mercy is 
the pure mercy of the Lord, which seeks 
the salvation of the wliole human race. It 
is continually present with every man for 
tliis end, and never recedes from him, so 
that every one is saved who can be saved, 
522. 

Merit, the, of the Lord is the good which 
rules in lieaven, 34S. 

MtTKMPsYCHosis. — Origin of the opinion 
concerning metempsychosis, 256. See Jie- 
collfctioii. 

Michael is an angelic society so named 
from its functions, 52. 

MicKocusM. — "Why man was called by the 
ancients a microcosm, or world in minia- 
ture, SO, note, 57, note. 

Mind, the, consists of two parts, one of 
which is called the understanding, and the 
other, the will, 367. The mind is under- 
Ptinding and will, and tlience thought and 
affection, 277. 

Mineral Kixgdom, 104. 

MoNiH, a, signifies an entire state ; com- 
pare 165 with ^. C. 3S14. 

Moon, the, signifies the Lord as to faith, 
and thence faith in the Lord, 1, note, 119. 

MoRxiNQ signifies the beginning of a 
new state, and the state of love, 155, note, 
166, 289. Morning signifies the first and. 
hisrliest degree of love, 155. 

Melancholy. — ^Yheuee arises the inte- 
rior sadness wliich is called melancholy, 
299. 

Mother, a, signifies the church as to 
truth, and thus also the truth of the church, 
882,* note. 

Motions, by, are signified such things as 
relate to state, 197,. 

Mountains, in the Word, signify celestial 
love, 188. 

Mouth* the. — In the Grand Man, or 
heaven, those who are in the province of 
the mouth, are in discourse from under- 
standing and perception, 96. 

Music. — "Whence the power of music in 
expressing various thoughts and affections 
arises, 241. 

Nakedness — Innocence itself is repre- 
sented in the heavens by nakedness ; to 
the innocent and the chaste, nakedness is 
no shame, because it is without offence, 
179, note, 341. The anggls of the inmost 
heaven are naked, 178, 341. Nakedness 
is a sign of innocence, and corresponds to 
it, 280. Spirits have a custom of testifying 
their innocence by putting off their clothes, 
and presenting themselves naked, 280, 
note. 

Name. — The societies of heaven and the 
angels have no names, but they are distin- 
guished by the quality of their good, and 
by an idea concerning' it, 52. | 

867 



Nations. — Concerning those in heaven 
who belonffcd to the nations or people out 
of the church, 318-328. See Gentiles. 

Nativity and Generation signify re- 
generation and re-birth by faith and love, 
382.* 

Natural, the, is the ultimate principle 
in wliich spiritual and celestial things, 
which are things interior, close, and on 
which they subsist as a house upon its 
foundation, 305, note. Those thii.gs which 
exist from the sun of the worM, are called 
natural, 172. Natural men see those things 
which are from a natural origin, and tiie 
spiritual see those which are from a spirit- 
ual origin, 582. Nothing natural can exist 
without some spiritual correspondent, 487. 

Natcre, universal, is a theatre repre- 
sentative of the Lord's kingdom, 106. 
Nature was only created for the purpose of 
clothing what is spiritual, and of present- 
ing it in a corresponding form in the ulti- 
mate of order, 102. Spaces and times be- 
long to nature, 266. 

Neighbor. — \n the supreme sense, the 
Lord is the neighbor, and therefore all 
good, which is from the Lord, is the 
neighbor, and to will and to do that good 
is to love the neighbor, 64, vote. Every 
man and every society, also a man's coun- 
try and the church, and in the universal 
sense the kingdom of the Lord, are our 
neighbor, and to do them good from the 
love of good, according to the quality of 
their state, is to love our neighbor; thus 
their good which is to be consulted, is our 
neighbor, 481, 7iote. To love our neighbor 
is not to love his person, but to love that 
which appertains to him and which con- 
stitutes him, for they who love the person, 
and not that which appertains to the man 
and constitutes the man, love the evil and 
the good alike, and they do good alike to 
the evil and to the good, when yet to do 
good to the evil is to do evil to the good, 
which is not to love our neighbor, 390, 
note. See also 15, 16, 217, 225,^406, 558. 

Night signifies a state of no love and 
faith, 155, note. It signifies the privation 
of love and wisdom, 155. 

Noon signifies wisdom initslight,155, 166. 

North, the, signifies wisdom and intel- 
ligence in obscure light ; a state of light, or 
of wisdom and intelligence in obscurity, 
150. In heaven, they dwell in the north 
who are in the obscure light of wisdom, 
148, 149. In hell, they who are in falsea 
from evil, dwell from the south to the 
north, 151. 

Nostrils, in the "Word, signify percep- 
tion, 97. In the Grand Man, those who 
are in the province of the nostrils are in 
perception, 96. 

Numbers, all, in the "Wcrd, signify things. 
Numbers multif)lied signify similar things 
with the simple numbers from which they 
result by multiplication, 263, note. 

Numerical Writing. — In heaven there 
is a numerical writing which consists o( 
nothing but numbers writtei in order and 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



Beries. The reason why this writinar in- 
volves more arcana than writing composed 
of letters, 263. 

Obsessions, external, or bodily posses- 
sions, do not exist at tliis day as formerly, 
but internal obsessions, which are of tlie 
mind, are more numerous than formerly, 
2n7, note. When man is interiorly obsessed, 
257, note. 

Odor, in the Word, signifies the per- 
ceptivity of what is agreeable or disagree- 
flble, according to ^he quality of the love 
and the faith of whicjh it is predicated, 287, 
note. An orlor of rest, when applied to 
Jeliovah, signifies the perceptivity of peace, 
287, note. In the worst hells, the odor is 
as it were cadaverous, 134. 

Old Age. — Those spirits which attend 
on old age with the man who may be re- 
formed and regenerated, are in wisdom 
and innocence, 295. 

Old Man, an, signifies a wise man, and 
in the abstract, sense, wisdom, 278. 

Olive-trees correspond to the affection 
of erood and its uses, 520, 111. 

One. — In heaven, all make a One by love 
from the Lord, 20, note. In what way they 
make a one, 64, In the spiritual world, 
the exteriors and interiors must act in 
unity, and correspond, 498. With those 
wlio are in good, interior thouglit acts in 
unity with exterior thought by correspond- 
ence, 499. With a good Spirit in the sec- 
ond state after death, thought makes one 
with his will, 503. 

One {vnum). — Every One is composed of 
various parts, 56, 405. Every whole {unvm) 
results from the harmony and agreement 
of various parts, for otherwise it has no 
quality, 56, note. 

Opening, the, of the interiors, 33, 271, 272, 
351, 396, 468, 532. Ut the exteriors, 396. 
Of the degrees of the mind, 468. Of what 
is above and what is beneath tlie rational 
mind, 430 ; of the eyes of the spirit, 171 ; 
of the entrances, or gates of liell, 583. 

Opinions, false, concerning Angels, the 
Soul, the Resurrection, and the Last Judg- 
ment, 312, 183, 456. 

Opposites. — When one opposite acts up- 
on another, pain is produced, 400, Noth- 
ing exists without a relation to its opposite, 
for ofiposites reveal the quality of each 
other, 541. Through opposites there is 
equilibrium. 541. 

Order, Divine. — The Lord is Order, be- 
cause the Divine Good and Divine Truth 
which proceed from the Lord make Order, 
57, note. Every thing is a correspondent 
which exists and subsists in nature from 
Divine Order, and has relation to the good 
and the true, 107. Divine Order does not 
rest in the middle, but proceeds to nlti- 
mates ; the ultimate is man, therefore Di- 
vine Order terminates in man, 304, 315. 
All things of Divine Order were collated 
into man, and he is from creation Divine 
Order in form, 30, 202; because he is its 
recipient, 523, note. Divine Order is heaven 
with man, 523. In proportion as man lives 

368 



according to Divine Order, he appears per- 
fect and beactiful in the other life, 454. 

Orientals. — The science of correspond- 
ences flourished with the Orientals, 87, 
note. 

Oxen signify the affections of the natural 
mind, 110. 

Palaces in Heaven, 184, 185. Palace oi 
wisdom, 270. 

Pancreas, the, corresponds to the purifi- 
cation of good and truth, 96, 217. 

Paradise signifies intelligence and wis- 
dom, 111, 176, 489, Concerning paradisia- 
cal scenes, and their magnificence in the 
other life, 176. Why h'eaven is called 
Paradise, 136. 

Parental Love. — It is the innocence of 
infancy which affects parents and produces 
parental love, 277. Concerning spiritual- 
maternal love, 332. 

Particular Things are in a superior de- 
gree, and things general in an inferior de- 
gree. Things general contain things par- 
ticular, for things particular, in comparison 
with things general, are as thousands or 
myriads to one, 267. 

Path, a, signifies truth which leads to 
good, and also falses which lead to evil, 
479, note. 

Peace in Heaven, concerning the state 
of, 284-290. Peace is the inmost principle 
of delight, derived from the good of inno- 
cence, 285. Peace in the heavens is the 
Divine inmostly affecting every good with 
blessedness which appertains to the angels ; 
it is incomprehensible to man, 286, 288. 
Innocence and peace go hand in hand, 288. 
The state of peace in heaven is like the 
state of day-dawn and of spring on earth, 
289. Heavenly peace exists also with men 
who are in wisdom, but, so long as they 
live in the world, peace lies stored up in 
their interiors, 288. They who are in evil 
have no peace, 290. In "the Word, peace 
signifies the Lord and heaven, and also 
heavenly joy and the delight of good, 287. 
It signifies the union of the Essential Di> 
vine and of the Divine Human of the Lord, 
and the conjunction ^ of the Lord with 
heaven and the church, 287. 

Pearls signify truths which introduce, 
307. 

Perfection, all, increases towards the 
inteiiors, and decreases towards the ex- 
teriors, 34, 158. Heaven becomes more 
perfect in proportion to the number of an- 
gelic societies, 418, 71. 

Peter, the Apostle, represented the Lord 
as to faith, 526. 

Piety, a life of, without a life of charity 
is of no avail, but when they are united it 
is of advantage in every respect, 535. 

Places and Spaces appear visible accord- 
ing to the states of the interiors of angels 
and spirits, 195, note. Changes of place 
are changes of the state of life, 192. Places 
signifying states, 192. 

Plains, Fields, &c., signify things anal- 
ogous which pertain to state, 197. 



INDEX. 



Pleasures, bodily. — The joy of bodily 

f)leasures, compared witli heavenly joys, is 
ike a gross and pungent clot of matter 
compared witli a pure and most gentle 
aura, 413. Such pleasures correspond to 
filth, 863. 

Pn-RALiTV OF Worlds, 417. Plurality of 
the Hells, 4S8. 

Poor in Heaven, concerning the, 357- 
865. By the poor in the Word are meant 
those who are spiritually poor, that is, who 
are in ignorance of truth, but still desire to 
be instructed, 420, 365. 

Power of the angels in heaven, con- 
cerning the, 228-238. Tlie angels are 
called powers, from Divine truth, and are 
powers in proportion as they are recipients 
of Divine Truth, 137, 231. All power is 
from the Lord, and is from Truth derived 
from good, and thus from faitii grounded 
in love, 232, note. Falses derived from 
evil have no power, 233, 7iote, 5o9. All the 
power of man is derived from his under- 
standing and will, 22S. 

Preachers in the heaven?, concerning, 
223-226. They all belong to the Lord's 
spiritual kingdom, 225. 

Preachings in heaven, concerning, 221- 
227, 25y. 

Presence, the, of the Lord, in the 
heavens, is everywhere, and with every 
one, in the good and truth which proceed 
from him, and consequently is with the 
angels in what is his own, 147, 121. The 
presence of the angels is not with the Lord, 
out the Lord's presence is with the angels, 
141, note. In the spiritual world any one 
appears to be present, if another intensely 
desires his presence, 194. 

Priesthood, the, signifies the good of 
love to the Lord, 226. 

Priests represent the Lord as to Divine 
Good, hence a priest, in the Word, signi- 
fies those who are in the good of love to 
the Lord, 226, note. Erroneous ideas 
amongst priests, 74, 183, 312. 

Proceed, to, is to be produced and em- 
bodied in a form which may be perceived 
and comprehended, 474. To proceed, 
means to exist from an Fsse, 139. What- 
ever proceeds is subordinate to that which 
it proceeds from, 474. 

PiiocRE.\TioN. — In heaven, mstead of the 
procreation of children there is the procre- 
ation cf good and truth, 382.* 

Pi:oFAN.4.TioN. — To believe the truth, and 
afterwards to deny it, is profanation, 456. 
Profanation is the commixture of good and 
evil, or of the true and tlie false in man, 456. 

Prophets. — How the prophets saw spirit- 
ual objects, 76. In what manner the Lord 
spoke witli the prophets by whom the 
Word was written, 254. 

Pi:opRiL'.\r, tiie, of man consists in loving^ 
liiinself more tiian God, and tlie world 
more tliaii heaven, and in m:iking his 
neiifhbor of no account in respect to him- 
self, thus it consists in the love of self and 
the world, 283, 4^4, 558. The propriiun 
of man is notiiing but evil, it is hell with 

369 



him. The good Avhich man does from the 
proprium is not good, but in itself evil, 
484. See also 15S', 280, 501. 

Provinces of the Grand Man. Heaven, 
or the Grand Man, is distinguished like 
man into members and parts, and they are 
named like the members and parts of man, 
65, 96. As, for example, the province of 
the eyes, 333. 

Pulse, the, of the heart, prevails in the 
body throughout, and flows into every 
part, 446, note. In heaven there is a pulse 
like that of the heart, but more interior, 
95, note. The pulse of the heart is various 
in heaven according to states of love, 95, 
note. See Respiration. 

Punishment. — No one in the other life 
ever sutfers punishment on account of 
hereditary evil, because it is not his own, 
and is therefore no fault of his, but he is 
punished on account of the actual evil 
which is his own, and thus in proportion 
as he Jias made hereditary evil his own by 
actual life, 342. Punishments in the Avorld 
of spirits are of many kinds ; no one there 
S'jffers punishment for crimes which he com- 
mitted in theworld^ he is punished only for 
the crimes which he does then ; there is, 
however, no actual difierence, lecau^e every 
one after death returns into his own Ife^ and 
thus into similar evils, for the quality of 
the spirit remains the same, 509. 

Purple signifies celestial good, 365, note. 

Quarters in Heaven, concerning the 
four, 141, 153. See also 17, 123. In the' 
spiritual world, the quarters commence and 
aa-e determined fi-om the face: the interiors 
present themselves in the face; therefore 
the face determines the quarters in heaven, 
143. Thev are otherwise determined in 
the world, "^17, 143. 

Kams signify affections, 110. 

Kaphael is an angelic society, so named 
from its function, 52. 

Eationality. — In the other life they are 
destitute of rationality M'ith whom the 
rational principle did notreside in their in- 
teriors, but in tlieir exteriors, 506, 464. 

Rational Principle, the, of man derives 
its existence from the influx of the light of 
heaven, 309. How the rational principle 
may be cultivated, 468, 469, 489. In pro- 
portion as man becomes rational in the 
world by means of languages and sciences, 
be is rational after death, and not in pro- 
portion to his mere learning or scientitio 
knowledge, 464. 

Eeason, to, the faculty of reasoning has 
no connection with rationality, it is the 
mere talent of making any tliinsr appear 
true which a man pleases ; such men, frou; 
preconceived principles, and from fallacies, 
see falses as t/'uths, 353, 464. 

Recollection. — Under what circum- 
stances there would be with man the seem- 
ing recollection of a thivg which had never 
been heard or seen, 256. See Metempsy- 
chosit. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



Eeoeneration is re-blrtli as to tliespirit- 
Tial man, 279. How it is effected, 279. De- 
scribed by ail angel, 269. 

Eelationships in heaven arc from arood, 
and according to its agreements and dif- 
ferences, 46. 

Kelioious Subjects, — Dangers "which 
they incur who occupy themselves exclu- 
sively with religious subjects, 249. 

Removals, in the spiritual world, are 
dissimilitudes as to the state of the in- 
teriors, 193. 

Repentance. — After death repentance is 
not possible, 527. 

Representatives in Heaven, concerning, 
170-176. Things are called representative 
which appear before the eyes of the angels 
in such forms as are in nature, and inter- 
nal things are thus turned into external, 
175, note. Examples of representatives, 335. 

Respiration, tlie, of the lungs, prevails 
in the body throughout, and flows into 
every part, 446. In heaven there is a res- 
piration like tluit of the lungs, but more 
interior, 95, note. The respiration tl^.ere is 
various, according to states of charity and 
faith, 95, note., 235. See Pulse. 

Resurrection, or resuscitation of man 
from tlie dead, concerning the, 445-452. 
Resuscitation is the withdrawing of the 
spirit from the body, and its introduction 
to tlie spiritual world, 447. Erroneous be- 
lief concerning the resurrection, 456, How 
the resurrection is effected, 449, 450. Man 
rises again only as to his spirit, but the 
Lord alone rose as to His body also, 816, 
Man rises again immediately after death, 
and is then in every respect a man, 312. 

Revelation. — The most ancient people 
had immediate revelation, but with those 
■who succeeded them there was a mediate 
revelation by correspondences, 306. Why 
the men of this earth are incapable of re- 
ceiving immediate revelation, 309. 

Rich in Heaven, concerning the, 357-365. 
By the rich, mentioned in the Word, are 
•understood, in the spiritual sense, those 
who abound in the knowledges of good and 
truth, and who are thus within the church, 
where the Word is, 365. 

Riches are not real blessings, and there- 
fore they are given to the wicked as well 
as to the good, 364, note. Spiritual riches 
are knowledges and sciences, 365. 

Right Hand, the, denotes power, 2"2, 
note. The things which are on man's right 
side have reference to good from v/h.ch 
truth is derived, 118, note. 

Righteous Person, a, is ho to whf^m the 
merit and righteousness of the L-^rd are 
ascribed, 348. 

Road, a, signifies the truth v'h»';h leads 
to good, and also the false whioli leads to 
evil, 479. 

Rocx sie'nifies faitn p'-o&ret'.ing from the 
Lord, 488^' 188. 

Rooms, inney, jignVj incerior things in 
man, 186, noie. 

Royalty s'-grif^e? truth derived from 
good, 226. 



Sabbath, the, in the supreme sense, si^ 
nifies the union of the essential Divine 
with the Divine Human of the Lord ; in 
the internal sense, the conjunction of the 
Divine Human of the Lord with heaven 
and the church ; and in general the con- 
junction of good and truth, thus the 
heavenly marriage, 287, note. Hence to 
rest on tlie Sabbath-day signifies a state of 
that union, and in the respective sense, 
the conjunction of the Lord with man, 
because then he has peace and salvation, 
287. 

Sandt Places correspond to the study 
of sciences from no other end than to ac- 
quire reputation, 488. 

Satan denotes the hell which is in front, 
the inhabitants of which are called evil 
spirits, 544. See Devil and Lucifer. 

Sciences. — What are meant by the 
sciences, 353. See also e»\tracts from the 
A. G. concerning the sciences, page 357. 
Concerning the science of correspondences, 
87-102, 114, 115, 487, 488. How far the 
science of correspondences excels all other 
sciences ; it was the chief science among 
the ancients, but is now obliterated ; it 
flourished with the Orientals and in Egypt, 
87, note. 

Scientifics belong to the natural memory 
which man has in the body, 855, note. See 
extracts from the A. 0. concerning the 
sciences, page 357, 

Seventy-two denotes all truths and 
goods in the complex, 73. 

Seers, 76, 4S7. 

Sense of the Word. — The literal sense 
of the Word consists of such things as are 
in the world, but the spiritual sense of 
such things as are in heaven, and the for- 
mer is in correspondence witli the latter, 
114. In all and each of the things of the 
Word there is an internal or spiritual sense, 
1, note. The internal sense of the Word is 
its soul, and the literal sense is its body, 
307. 

Sensual Principle, the, is the ultimate 
of the life of man, and it adheres to, and 
inheres in his corporeal principle, 267, 858, 
He is called a sensual man who judges and 
concludes about all things from the senses 
of the body, and who believes nothing but 
what he can see with his eyes and feel 
with his hands. Sensual men reason 
sharply and cunningly, but it is from the 
corporeal memory in which they place all 
intelligence ; they are more cunning and 
malicious than others, 267, note, 853, 461. 
See also 18, 74. 

Separation, — When and how the separa- 
tion of good and evil spirits is effected, 511. 

Serpents of the Tree of Science. — Sen- 
sual men were so called by the ancients, 
353. See Sensual. 

Servants. — See Master. 

Sheep signify affections of the spirituaJ 
mind, 110. 

Sight of the Eye, the, signifies the in- 
telligence which is of faith, and also foith 
itself. 271, note. The sight of the left eye 

370 



INDEX. 



corresponds to the truths of faith, and the 
sight of the rigiit eye to their goods, 118, 
note. Internal sight is tliat of .the tliouglit, 

85, 144 ; or of the understanding, 203, 462. 
The objects of tiie spiritual world are seen 
by man, with the* eyes of the spirit, wlien 
}ie is withdrawn from the natural light of 
the bodily senses, 76, 171. The sight of 
the spirit is interior sight, 171. 

SiLVEK signifies spiritual good, or truth 
from a celestial origin, 115. 

Similitude conjoins, and dissimilitude 
disjoins, 427. Similitude brings spirits to- 
gether, 42. Concerning similitudes, see 16, 
47, 72, 582. 

Simple in Heaven, concerning the, 346- 
856. Concerning the simple. See 74, 82, 

86, 183, 268, 312^ 313, 322, 464. 

Smell. — Concerning this sense, see 402, 
462. 

Smoke corresponds to the falses which 
proceed from hatred and revenge, 585. 

Societies. — Heaven consists of innumer- 
able societijes, 41-50. Every society is 
heaven in a less form, 51-58. Every so- 
ciety in the heavens resembles one man, 
68-72. Every society in heaven has a so- 
ciety opposite to it in hell, 541, 588. Every 
man as to his spirit is conjoined with some 
society either of heaven or of hell ; a wicked 
man is conjoined with a society of hell, and 
a good man with a society of heaven, 510. 
Every one after death comes into his own 
society in which his spirit was when he 
lived in the world, 510. 

SociNiANS, the, are out of heaven, 3 ; 
their interiors are closed, 83. 

Solitary. — Concerning those who in the 
world gave themselves up to an almost soli- 
tary life; how they are in the other life, 
360, 535, 249. 

Sox-in-Law, a, signifies truth associated 
to the affection of good, 382,* noU. 

Sons signifv the affections of truth, and 
thus truths, 382.* 

Soot corresponds to the falses which are 
derived from hatred and revenge, 585. 

Soul, the, of man is his spirit, for this 
is altogether immortal, 432, 602. False 
ideas which prevail regarding the soul, 183, 
812, 456. In the Word, the soul signifies 
understanding, truth, and faith, 446, note. 

Sound of Angelio Speech corresponds 
to affection, and the articulations of sound, 
which are words, to the ideas of thought 
derived from affection, 236, 241, 260, 269. 

South, the, signifies wisdom and intelli- 
gence in clear light, or a state of light, or 
of wisdom and intelligence, 150. In the 
heavens, they who are in the clear light of 
wisdom dwell in the south, 148, 149. In 
liell, they who are in tlie falses of evil dwell 
from the south to the north, 151. 

Space in Heaven, concerning, 191-199. 
The angels have no spaces, but instead of 
spaces they have states and tlieir changes, 
192. Spaces in heaven are merely external 
states corresponding to internals, 193. 
They appear visible according to the states 
of the interiors of angels and soirits, 195. 

371 



Spaces in the Word signify states of life-, 

192, note. 

Speech of Angels, concerning the, 234- 
245. Concerning the speech of angels with 
man, 246-257. Spiritual or angelic speech 
is latent in man, although he is ignorant of 
it, 243, note. After death the interior ideas 
of man form his speech, 243, note. Man is 
able to converse with spirits and angels, 
and tlie ancients frequently did so ; but on 
this earth it is dangerous to discoarse witii 
spirits now, unless man is principled in a 
true faith, and led by the Lord, 249, note. 

Sphere. — A spiritual sphere, which is 
a sphere of life, flows forth and diffuses it- 
self from every man, spirit, and angel, and 
encompasses him : this sphere flows from 
the life of the affections, and thence of the 
thoughts, 17, 49, 591. Concerning spiritual 
spheres, see also, 384, 574, 591. 

Spirit. — Every man is a spirit as to his 
interiors, 432-444, The spirit is the maa 
himself, for the body lives from the spirit, 
76, Conjunction of spirits with man, 292. 
Evil spirits, good spirits, 453. The form 
of man's spirit is the human form, 453. 
Spirits who are in the spiritual world, and 
also the spirits of men while they are alive 
in the body, become visible in their own 
form, 453. Men who think abstractedly 
from the body sometimes appear in the so- 
ciety of spirits, and are visible to them, 
438. Enthusiastic spirits, 249. Emissary 
spirits, 255. Natural and corporeal spirits, 
257. Infernal spirits, 123, 151. 

Spiritual. — Those things are called spir- 
itual which exist from the sun of heaven, 
172. That which is spiritual sees what is 
spiritual, 453. What is spiritual cannot be 
revealed to man exsept in a natural manner, 
566. When spiritual beings touch and see 
spiritual things, the effect is exactly the 
same to the sense as when natural beings 
touch and see natural things, 461. It "is 
allowable to enter from spiritual truth into 
the scientifics which are of the natural man, 
but not vice versa,' because the spiritual 
flows into tlie natural, but the natural does 
not flow into the spiritual, 365, note. 

Spleen, the, corresponds to the purifica- 
tion of good and truth, 96, 217. 

Spring signifies the first and highest de- 
gree of love, 166, 155. 

Stars signify, in the Word, the knowl- 
edges of good and truth, 1, 105, 119. 

States are predicated of life, and of those 
things which relate to life — states of love 
and faitii, states of wisdom and intelli- 
gence, 155. Of the first state of man after 
death, 491-498. Of ^he second state, 499- 
511, Ofthethirdsiate, 457, 512-520, See 
Changes. 

Stone sisrnifies the truth of faith, 188, 
223, 488, 534. 

Stones, precious, signify the truths and 
goods of heaven, and the church transpa- 
rent from good, 489, 179, 307. 

Street, a, signifies truths which lead to 
good ; and also falses which lead .to evil 
479, note. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



Stvle of the Word, concerning the, 310. 

Subjects. — The spirits sent from societies 
of spirits to otlier societies are called sub- 
jects, 255, note. See page 339. Collection 
<)f extracts from A. G. concerning the spirits 
by whom communication is effected. 

Subsist, to. — Nothing can subsist from 
itself; everything subsists from a cause 
prior to itself, thus, finally from the First, 
from Aviiich, when separated, it vanishes 
a\vi\y and perishes altogether, 106. To sub- 
sist, is to exist perpetually, 9, 304. 

Subsistence is perpetual existence, 9, 37, 
106,303. 

Substances. — Whatever exists interiorly 
in man, exists in forms which are sub- 
stances ; and what does not exist in sub- 
stances as its subjects, is nothing, 418. 
Whatever is supposed to exist without a 
hubstantial subject is nothing, 434. 

Successions. — All things in heaven have 
their successions and progressions as in the 
world, 162, 163, 191. 

Sun in Heaven, concerning the, 116-125. 
The sun, in the Word, signifies the Lord 
as to love, and thence love to the Lord, 
1, note^ 119. In the opposite sense it signi- 
fies the love of self; in which sense, by 
adoring the sun is signified to worship 
those things which are contrary to heav- 
enly love, or to the Lord, 122, 561. 

Supreme. — In every angel, and also in 
every man, there is an inmost or supreme 
degree, into which the divine of the Lord 
first or proximately flows, and which may 
be called his especial dwelling-place in 
them, 39. 

Swedenborg. — It was permitted him to 
associate with angels, and to converse with 
them as one man with another, and to see 
the things which are in the heavens as well 
as those which are in the hells, 1, 174, 184. 
To converse with them as a friend, and 
sometimes as a stranger, 234 ; sometimes 
with one alone, and sometimes with many 
in company, when he was in the exercise 
of every bodily sense, and in a state of 
clear perception, 74. To converse with 
spirits, and to be with them as one of them 
when fully awake, 442. To converse with 
(spirits who belonged to the ancient church, 
827 ; with others who lived 2000 years ago, 
with some who lived 1700 years ago, with 
others who lived 400 and 300 years ago, 
and with others who lived more recently, 
480 ; with some on the third day after their 
decease, 452 ; with almost all the deceased 
whom he knew in the life of the body, 437. 
To converse with spirits as a spirit, and to 
converse with them as a man in the body, 
436. To be conducted by the Lord into 
the heavens, and to various earths in the 
universe, but as to the spirit only, whilst 
the body remained in the same place, 192. 
To be in the spiritual world as to the spirit, 
and at the same time in the natural world 
as to the body, 577 ; to be withdrawn from 
the body, 46, 440. To be brought nearly 
into the state of dying persons, that he 
might know how resuscitation is effected, 

372 



449, 450. Through his eyes spirits have 
seen that which is in our world, 252. Con- 
cerning Swedenborg, see also 69, 109, 118, 
132, 228, 229, 312, 441, 456, and elsewhere. 

Taste. — See, concerning this sense, 402, 
462. 

Temple, the, represented the Divine Hu- 
man of the Lord, 187. Concerning temples 
in heaven, 221, 224. Whence the custom 
of building churches with an eastern aspect 
is derived, 119. 

Tendency or Direction. — There is a uni- 
versal tendency to a common centre on 
earth, 142. In what the tendency in heaven 
differs from the tendency on earth, 142. 
The direction of the interiors of all who 
are in the other life is according to their 
love, 151. 

Theatre. — Universal nature is a theatre 
representative of the Lord's kingdom, 106, 
note. 

Thieves. — They are called thieves who 
rob the Lord of what is his, 10. 

Think, to. — They think naturally who 
look to the world only and attribute all 
things to nature ; but they think spiritually 
who look to heaven, and attribute all things 
to the Divine, 130. To think spiritually is 
to think intellectually or rationally, 464. 
To think freely from his own real affection 
is the very life of man, and is the man 
himself, 502. The great majority of spirits 
from the Christian world at this day do not 
comprehend how thinking and willing can 
be of any consequence, and regard speak- 
ing and acting as every thing, 495. 

Thirst, to, denotes to desire the knowl- 
edges of good and truth, 420. 

Thought is internal sight, 434, 532. 
Thought is nothing but the form of the 
will, or the medium by which man wills 
what may appear in the light, 500. Thought, 
together'with affection, constitute the man, 
445. Thought and will are of the spirit of 
man, and not of the body, 453. There are 
two kinds of thought with man, the one 
exterior and the other interior, 499. The 
interior thought of man is in perfect agree- 
ment with his affection or love, 298. 
Thouglit derives from affection its soul or 
life, 236. Thought falls into speech with 
man according to general influx, 296. Ex- 
tension of the thoughts, 199, 201, 203, 204. 
Worldly thought, corporeal thought, heav- 
enly thought, 532. See Affection. 

Throne of the Lord, the, signifies 
heaven, and particularly the spiritual king- 
dom of the Lord, 8, 24. 

Times, in the Word, signify states, 165. 
Concerning time in heaven, 162-169. The 
angels think without an idea of time and 
space, 165, note. Man does not think with- 
out an idea of time, 169, n^te. Men have 
an idea of eternity with time, but the angeJs 
without time, 167, note. Times in their 
origin j\re states, 168. Why there are times 
in the natund world, 164, 168. 

To-day signifies eternity (^ternum\ 165, 
A. G. 3998. See Yesterday, Tomorroif 



INDEX. 



To-morrow signifies eternity, 165, note, 
A. O. 3998. See Yesterday and To-day. 

Tooth, in the Word, signifies the sen.«iual 
principle, which is the ultimate of tlie life 
of man, 575. 

Top of a Mountain, the, signifies the 
supreme of heaven, 188. 

Torments. — What infernal torments are, 
573, 574. Why the Lord permits torments 
in hell, 581. Torments which evil spirits 
experience when they approach heaven, or 
enter therein, 54, 854, 400. 

Touch, concerning the sense of, 402, 462. 

Trees. — In the Word, trees signify per- 
ceptions and knowledges, from which come 
intelligence and wisdom. 111, 176, 489. 
Fruit trees correspond to the affections of 
good and its uses, 520. 

Tribes signify all truths and goods in 
the complex, thus all tilings of faith and 
love, 1. 

Trine or Trinity, the Divine. — A Trinity 
or Divine Trine maybe conceived of in one 
person, and thus one God, but not in three 
persons, page 87. Such a Divine Trinity in 
the Lord is acknowledged in heaven, 2. 
The Trine in the Lord is the Divine Itself, 
which is called the Father, the Divine Hu- 
man which is called the Son, and the Di- 
vine Proceedinsr which is called the Holy 
Spirit ; this Divine Trine is One, page 87. 

Trumpet, a, signifies divine truth in 
heaven, and revealed from heaven, 1, note. 

Truth, the, does not admit of reasonings, 
385. Truth is the form of good, 107, 375. 
The life of truth is from good, 375. That 
is called truth which is of the memory, 
and thence of the thought, 26. All truth 
is turned into good, and implanted in the 
love, as soon as it enters the will, 26. 
Every truth is of infinite extent, and in 
conjunction with a multitude of other 
truths, 270. Truths w^ithout good are not 
in themselves good, because they have no 
life, 136. All truths, wheresoever they are, 
whether in the heavens or out of them, are 
lucid, 132. Divine Truths are laws of or- 
der, 57, 202. So far as man lives according 
to order, that is, so far as he is principled 
in good according to divine trutiis, he be- 
comes a man, 202, note. The truth of faith 
is light, 136. Civil truths relate to justice 
and equity, moral truths to sincerity and 
uprightness, and spiritual truths to the 
good which is of love, and the truth which 
is of faith, 468. 

Turned to, to be, — All conjunction in 
the spiritual world depends on the degree 
in which individuals turn towards each 
other, 255. The interiors and exteriors of 
man are either turned to tlie Lord or to 
self, 253, 552. Turning of the face and of 
the body in the spiritual world, 143, 144, 
151, 153, 496. 

Twelve denotes all truths and goods in 
the complex, 73, note, 307. 

Understanding, the, is the Existere of 
life, proceeding from the Esse of life, or 
the will, 26, 61, 474. It is recipient of 

373 



truth, 137, 221. It is it which is cnl.ght- 
ened, 130. Tlie understanding and the 
will together constitute the man, 423. The 
life of tlie understanding proceeds from the 
life of the will, 26, note. The will and un- 
derstanding of man are ruled by the Lord 
by means of angels and spirits, 228. The 
understanding of truth, after death, cannot 
amend or change the nature of the wicked, 
508. All things which are ir the under- 
standing have relation to truth, 138. 

Universe. — All things in the universe, 
both in heaven and in the world, have re- 
lation to good and truth, 375. 

Uses. — Uses are the ends for the sake of 
which man acts, 112, note ; they are goods 
in act, or goods of charity, 391. All in the 
other life must perform uses, even the 
wicked and infernal ; all derive their qual- 
ity from the uses which they perform, 387, 
508. Uses are the goods of love and char- 
ity, 402, 403 ; they are various and diverse, 
405. The kinardom of the Lord is a king- 
dom of uses, 112, 361, 387. To serve the 
Lord is to perform uses, 361, 387, note. To 
perform use is to desire the welfare of 
others, for the sake of the common good, 
64. In heaven, to promote use is the de- 
light of the life of all, 219. Use is the 
first and the last, and thus the all of man, 
112. 

Variety is infinite, and in no instance is 
one thing the same as another, 41, note., 20, 
405. In heaven, as in the world, there is 
endless variety, 231. Variety arranged in 
a heavenly form, makes perfection, 71, 56. 

Vastation is nothing more than being 
let into the internals or into the proprium 
of the spirit, which is the spirit itself, 551. 
Successive vastation of the church, 1. Con- 
cerning vastations, see 513. 

Vegetable Kingdom, the, 104, 108, 109, 
111. lnfl.ux from the spiritual world into 
the subjects of the vegetable kingdom, 567. 

Veil or Covering, a, signifies the intel- 
lectual principle, 179. 

Vine, the. 111. A. C. 1069. 

Vineyards signify the spiritual church, 
and the truths of that church, 489. Vines 
correspond to the affections of truth and 
its uses, 520. 

Virgin, a, signifies the affection of good, 
and also the church, 368, note. 

Visionaries. — Who they are who be- 
come visionaries, and why they become so, 
249. 

Visions. — It is dangerous to confirm 
truth, by visions, with those who are in 
falses, because they would first believe, and 
afterwards deny it, and thus profane the 
truth itself, 456. " 

Voice, the, signifies divine truth in hea- '^ 
ven, and revealed from heaven, 1, note. 

Vowels. — Why in the Hebrew language 
vowels are not written, and are also va- 
riously expressed, 241. The angels, by 
vowels, express their affections, 261. Vow- 
els are signs of sounds, and affection dwells 
in sounds, 241. See Oormon/ints and SouTids. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



Walk, to, signifies to live, 590, note. 
To walk with the Lord denotes to receive 
Bpiritiial life, and to live with Him, 590, 
note. 

Wall, a, denotes truth protecting from 
the assaults of falses and evil, 73, note. 

Wat, a, signifies the truth which leads 
to good, and als;o the false which leads to 
evil. To sweep the way is to prepare for the 
reception of truths, 479, note. 

Week, a, signifies state, and also an en- 
tire period, 165. See also A. 0. 3845. 

West, the, signifies love and its good in 
obscure perception, 150. In heaven, they 
dwell in the west who are in an obscure 
perception of the good of love, 148, 149. 
In hell, they who are in evils which spring 
from self-love, dwell from the east to the 
■west, 151. 

White corresponds to truth, and in the 
word it signifies truth, 179. 

Whole, the, consists of the parts, and 
the parts constitute the whole, 64, 267. 

Whoredoms, in the Word, signify the 
perversion of truth, 884, note. 

Wickedness, concerning the, of infernal 
spirits, 576-581. 

Wife, a, signifies the aflfection of good 
and truth, and also the church, 368, 
note. 

Will, the, of man is the very esse of his 
life, 26, 61 ; it is man's essential spiritual 
principle, 529. It is the man himself, 508. 
It is the recipient of good, 473, note^ 474, 
26. The will and understanding make the 
all of life appertaining to man, to spirit, 
and to angel, 463, note. The life ot the 
will is the principal life of man, and the 
life of the understanding flows from it, 26, 
61, 474. Man is man by virtue of his will, 
and thence of his understanding, 26, 474. 
The will and understanding of man are 
ruled by the Lord, by means of angels and 
spirits, 228. The will falls into gestures, 
with man, according to general influx, 296, 
note. After death a man remains such as 
his will is, 26, 474. All things which are 
in the whl have relation to good, 138. 

Will, to, is to love to do, 16. To will 
and not to do when action is possible, is in 
reality not to will, but a mere fantasy of 
thought, 475. 

Window, a, signifies the intellectual 
principle which is of the internal sight, 
489, note. 

Winged Animals signify things intellec- 
tual, no. 

Winter signifies the privation of love 
and wisdom. Comp. 166 with 155. 

Wisdom. — Tlie Divine Wisdom is the 
light of heaven, 131. Concerning the wis- 
dom of the angels of heaven, 265-275. 
This wisdom is incomprehensible and inef- 
fable, 266. Wisdom consists in receiving 
the good which proceeds from the Lord, 
80; and also in seeing and perceiving wliat 
is good and what is evil, and in accurately 
distinguishing the one from the other, by 
intuition and interior perception, 851. In- 
telligence and wisdom constitute man, 80. 

374: 



The nature of spurious wisdom, 852. The 
nature of false wisdom, 358. See Intelli- 
gence. 

Wise in Heaven, concerning the, 846- 
856. Concerning the wise among the an- 
cients, 822, 828. 

Woman, the, acts from afi'ection, and the 
man from reason. In the Word, a woman 
signifies the affection of good and truth, 
and also the church, 368. 

Wood signifies good, 223; those who 
have placed merit in works appear to them- 
selves in the other life to cut wood, 513. 

Word corresponds to the ideas of thought 
derived from affection, 236, 241, 261, 262, 
269. 

Word, the, is that which unites heaven 
and earth, 805. The Word is written by 
pure correspondences, and hence all and 
each of the things therein signify spiritual 
things, 1, 114. Man has conjunction with 
heaven by the Word, 114, note. The Word 
was dictated by the Lord, and is accom- 
modated both to the wisdom of angels and 
the intelligence of man, therefore the angels 
have the Word, and read it as men do on 
earth, 259; hence it is that the very dots, 
iotas, and minutest parts of the Word con- 
tain heavenly arcana and things Divine, 
260. The Word in its literal sense is nat- 
ural, and because the natural is the ultimate 
principle, in which spiritual and celestial 
things, which are things interior, close, 
and on which they subsist, as a house upon 
its foundation, thus the sense of the letter 
is the continent of the spiritual and celes- 
tial sense, 805, note. The conjunction of 
the Lord with man is effected by the Word, 
through the medium of the internal sense ; 
by the whole Word, and by every part of 
it, there is conjunction, and therefore the 
Word is wonderful above all other writings, 
805, note. The term Word in the Sacred 
Scriptures signifies various things, as dis- 
course, the thought of the mind, every 
thing which really exists, also something ; 
and in the supreme sense, Divine truth 
and the Lord, 187, note. 

Word, ante-Mosaic. — This Word, which 
existed with the Ancient Church, is lost, 
327, note. 

Works derive their esse and existere and 
their quality from the interiors of man, 
which are of his thought and will ; there- 
fore such as the interiors are, such are the 
works ; works contain the interiors in re- 
gard to love and faith, and are love and 
faith in effect, 358, note, 484. 

World, the natural, is all that extent 
which lies beneath the sun, and receives 
thence its heat and light, and the things of 
the natural world are all those which 
tlience subsist, 8.9. The natural world ex- 
ists and subsists from the spiritual world, 
as an effect from its efficient cause, 89, 106 ; 
and botli from the Divine, 106. 

World of Spirits, the, is an intermediate 
state or place between heaven and tiell, in- 
to which man enters immediately after 
death, 421-431. The appearance of this 



INDEX. 



world, 429. The world of spirits is in 
equilibrium between lieaven and hell, 590. 

World, the spiritual, is heaven, and the 
things of that world are all things which 
are in the heavens, S9. In the spiritual 
world, where spirits and angels dwell, the 
objects which are visible are so like those 
wiiich appear in the natural world, that 
tliere is no apparent difference, but still 
they are all from a spiritual origin, 582. 

VVoKSHiP, concerning Divine, in heaven, 
221-227. Variety of worship, 56. Wor- 
ship of the ancients, 111, 188. The exter- 
nals of worship are of no avail, but the 
internal principles from which they pro- 
ceed, 495. 

WErriNGs IN Heaven, concerning, 258- 

375 



264. Numerical writing, and writing coin 
posed of letters, 263. 

Years, in the Word, signify states of life 
in general, 155, 165. 

Yesterday, signifies from all eternity 
{ab mterno)^ 165. A. G. 8998. See To-day 
and To-morrow. 

Young Men, in the Word, signify the 
understanding of truth, or those who are 
intelligent, 368, Twte. 

Youth. — The spirits who attend on youth 
and manhood are in the affection of truth 
and good, 295. 

ZioN, in the Word, signifies the churoh, 
and specifically the celestial churoh, 216. 



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